PLUS
Dell Launches Highest-End Storage Arrays /08 www.smechannels.com
india’s first IT magazine for sme business VOLUME 06 | ISSUE 11 | PAGES 44 | JANUARY 2016 | RS. 20/-
CHANNEL GUIDE /34
CHANNEL GUIDE /32
SME CHAT /39
VMware: Pushes Partners to Unleash their Potential
Vodafone: To Tap SMEs Through Partners
D-Link : Adoption of VDSL technology likely to witness a spike
DIST IS A RIBU T L L S A ION
ERV BOUT I C WEL ING L
In today’s hyper competitive market landscape, the traditional... /24 1
PLUS
Dell Offers Lync and Skype /16 www.smechannels.com
india’s first IT magazine for sme business VOLUME 06 | ISSUE 11 | PAGES 44 | JANUARY 2016 | RS. 20/-
SME CHAT / 19
SME CHAT / 29
ARRAY: We are Reducing the Number Of Partners
Sharda Systems : Matrix is a brand that stands for ‘SUBSTANCE’
GUEST TALK /40 SAP: India’s Startup and Opportunities for Female Entrepreneurs
MY EXPERIENCE
EDITORIAL
ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THE CHALLENGES? SANJAY MOHAPATRA
sanjay@smechannels.com
WE HAVE BEEN seeing this industry growing for last many years but the opportunity 2016 is throwing was never before. There are two things happening at a time. India is becoming a hot ground for start-ups and government is creating framework for manufacturing, digitization, smart cities, smart governments, etc. To me, India in itself is becoming a market for creators and consumers. Other two countries which can match with India are USA and China. Both the countries have consumers and creators in abundance. But the advantage for India is that the potential customers are in millions where as in other countries the customers are matured. Start is a big community in india with 4200+ in number. In 2015, US$5.3 billion was invested into the startup ecosystem owing to big names including Japan’s Softbank who invested US$627 million in ecommerce site Snapdeal, and US$210 million in taxi app Ola as part of a massive US$10 billion investment earmarked by the company for India’s booming ecommerce, telecom, and aviation industries. The central government has already announced a Rs.10, 000 crore dedicated fund for start-ups. There will be no income tax on startup incomes also. Along with this there are many announcements to develop and flourish startups in india. So the opportunity for the IT market to address this burgeoning startup landscape is really huge. Because of their thin spread out across India, the addressable capability of the vendors becomes partner centric because clearly they cannot go of their own to address this emerging market. The technologies that the startup market is going to use is absolutely cutting edge reason being the average startup age is below 35 who are strongly receptive to the new ideas. They are ready to experiment with anything disruptive therefore technology like cloud computing and mobility would be of highly important for them. Now the second trigger mechanism for growth is all the government sponsored projects. Earlier we used to depend upon the projects like infrastructure modernizations in various government verticals but today it is completely new thing like digitization, smart cities, rural broadband, wireless connectivity, mobility, etc. are changing the entire business landscape. So the vendors cannot actually get into these things individually as there are many states and departments taking decisions. It will be the partners to take leadership position in these initiatives. But surely they have to skill and hone their resources in adapt to the situation. So 2016 as a year will certainly be very interesting.
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SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
Samsung Galaxy Note5 Dual SIM SAMSUNG GALAXY Note5 Dual Sim phone is just perfect as more and more people are becoming mobile. The user does not have to keep one number but also two numbers representing two identities. It is very useful for the high-level executives who manage multi country business and often find them working in long flights and different geographic locations. Always the challenge is to either carry two phones of two sims to be changed in the landing country. Now with Galaxy Note5 Dual Sim one need not to worry about changing the sims in hurry as from the day one two sims can be accommodated.
SPECIFICATIONS Comes with Dual Sim FINAL WORDING It stands for its ethos of “Doing More and Being More” OVERALL RATING
contents
2016
JAN VOLUME 06 ISSUE 11
ER COV RY STO
india’s first IT magazine for sme business
Publisher: Sanjib Mohapatra Editor: Sanjay Mohapatra Asst. Editor: Satinder Kaur Executive Editor: Smruti Chaudhury Copy Editor: Neil D’Souza Designer: Ajay Arya Web Designer: Vijay Bakshi Technical Writer: Manas Ranjan Satya Sagar Sinha Lead Visualizer: DPR Choudhary MARKETING Marketing Manager: Hemlata Lalwani Marketing Executive: Rajat Kumar Circulation and Printing: Panchanan Bhoi SALES CONTACTS Delhi 6/102, Kaushalya Park, Hauz Khas New Delhi-110016 Phone: 91-11-41055458 E-mail: Hem@smechannels.com Bangalore #28/1, 3rd Floor, Sri Lakshmi Krupa, Near Shamanna Park, Model House Street, Basavanagudi, Bangalore - 560004 Ph. No. +91 88618 21044 Mumbai Tahmeed Ansari 2, Ground Floor, Park Paradise, Kay-Bees CHS. Ltd.,Opp. Green Park, Oshiwara, Andheri (west), Mumbai - 400 053. Ph. +91 22 26338546, Fax +91 22 26395581 Mobile: +91 9967 232424 E-mail: Info@smechannels.com Kolkata S Subhendu BC-286, Laxmi Apartment, Kestopur Kolkata-700101 Phone: 9674804389 EDITORIAL OFFICE Delhi: 6/103, (GF) Kaushalya Park, New Delhi-110016, Phone: 91-11-41657670 / 46151993 editor@smechannels.com
Distribution is all About Servicing Well /24
Bangalore Bindiya Jadhav #28/1, 3rd Floor, Sri Lakshmi Krupa, Near Shamanna Park, Model House Street, Basavanagudi, Bangalore - 560004
In today’s hyper competitive market landscape, the traditional IT distributors are taking value addition to the core and have evolved from pure-play hardware players to a full service partners.
CHANNEL GUIDE VMware/ 34 Pushes Partners to Unleash their Potential Vodafone/ 32 To Tap SMEs Through Partners
SME CHAT ARRAY/ 19 We are Reducing the Number Of Partners
SME CHAT D-LINK / 39 Adoption of VDSL technology likely to witness a spike
Ph. No. +91 88618 21044 E-Mail bindiya@ accentinfomedia.com Skype ID: b1diyajadhav
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SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
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SNIPPETS PRODUCT | CHANNEL | CONSULTING | SERVICES
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MANISH GUPTA, DIRECTOR, ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS GROUP, DELL INDIA
Dell Launches Highest-End Storage Arrays Dell launches the combination of Dell’s new flagship Dell Storage SC9000 storage array controller, new 12Gb SAS expansion
enclosures and next generation array software in India. As per the press release, this is the highestperforming, most enterprise-
focused SC Series release to date. Dell once again offers the industry’s lowest cost-per-gigabyte for SSD storage with enterprise SC9000
all-flash arrays as low as 65 cents (US)-per-gigabyte net effective capacity including the array, all storage software and three-years of Dell Copilot support. Manish Gupta, Director, Enterprise Solutions Group, Dell India said, “This is an exciting product for our customers in the India market and will resonate well with customers in financial markets, trading floors and real time analytics looking for a shared storage. The SC9000 along with accompanying software enhancements offers customers the highest-performing, most enterprise-focused SC Series release to date and helps large-scale deployments achieve missioncritical business goals faster, more consistently, and with less cost.” Neeraj Matiyani, Director, Storage Solutions, Dell India said, “We have taken a customer-centric approach to develop our storage solutions in line with the industry’s rapidly changing approach to IT. Our new offerings cater to emerging market demands, with options of scalability and flexibility for newage workloads, thus driving greater efficiency and adding business value to our customers.”
Ricoh ICE Enables to Save Documents Directly in Cloud Ricoh India unveiled a bold new cloud strategy for small and medium businesses, school and other organisations lower costs and improve productivity by turning their multifunction products (MFP’s) into portals that deliver internet based services. Ricoh cloud platform, called
8
SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
Integrated Cloud Environment (ICE), is a single interface connecting Ricoh MFP’s to cloud services. It enables companies to use the internet as their IT infrastructure, directly scanning paper documents to cloud storage services and automatically turning them into fully editable documents along the
way. With ICE, a user can access variety of cloud services like Google Drive, DropBox and Evernote and sharepoint. In addition, ICE also has optical character recognition (OCR) engine that can convert scanned hard copies into searchable PDF, Word and Excel documents. Speaking on the occasion,
Manoj Kumar, Managing Director and CEO, Ricoh India said “Integrated Cloud Environment is a breakthrough technology for making information work. It’s an ideal way for cloud users to expand their capabilities and for companies to advance their bring-your-owndevice (BYOD) strategies.”
SNIPPETS
4G Smart Phones overtake 3G based devices According to IDC India monthly smartphone tracker, 9.3 million smartphones were shipped in India in the month of October 2015. According to Kiran Kumar, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India says, “With 25.9 percent month-on-month growth, 4G based smartphone accounted for more than half of smartphones shipped in October. This gain is mainly at the expense of 3G enabled handsets as vendors are replacing their existing models with
4G based smartphones while making consumers future proof.” Shipments of Top 3 Chinese vendors namely Lenovo Group, Xiaomi and Vivo together grew at a healthy 18 percent month-over-month in October. Lenovo Group is one of the key driver for this growth with considerable volume of shipments coming from their new line up of smartphones like A1000, Vibe P1, A6010, etc.
Eka Software Wins Award Eka Software Solutions, global provider of Smart Commodity Management software, has been awarded Special Commendation for Excellence in Commodity Logistics by Commodities Now magazine, provider of commodities intelligence for market and investment professionals. The awards were announced at the Commodities Business Awards ceremony held in London on November 26. The annual awards are decided each year by a combination of votes by industry professionals from around the world and a panel of traders and technologists. “In today’s complex and volatile markets, commodities companies require the strongest software solutions for managing the physical supply chains of agriculture, energy, and metals commodities. Eka has the most advanced software platform for the efficient and effective trading, movement, and storage of commodities,” said Michael Schwartz, EVP & CMO at Eka.
Raytheon|Websense is now Forcepoint Raytheon|Websense unveiled its new company name, Forcepoint, and multiple new products. Built on the successful integration of Websense, Raytheon Cyber Products and the recentlyacquired Stonesoft next-generation firewall (NGFW) business, Forcepoint brings a fresh approach to address the constantly evolving cybersecurity challenges and regulatory requirements facing businesses and government agencies. “With Forcepoint, organizations can protect users, networks and data in the cloud, on the road, and in the office. We simplify compliance, enable better decision-making and streamline security so that our customers can concentrate on what’s important to them,” said Forcepoint CEO, John McCormack. “We will provide a unified cloud-centric platform to defend against attacks, detect suspicious activity sooner, and give the context needed to decide what actions to take to defeat the attack and stop data theft. Defend, detect, decide, defeat – this is our vision for Forcepoint 4D Security. We have the expertise, financial commitment and ongoing access to unique, defense-grade security technology necessary to deliver on this vision.”
MY POINT
“The role women play in driving the global economy is becoming more and more foundational to the health and wellbeing of our world,” KAREN QUINTOS, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AT DELL.
10 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
ESET Grows Faster than Peers ESET continues to gain worldwide market share in both the consumer and corporate segments of the Endpoint Security Software market. With a growth rate of 7.7%, ESET increased its share of the global Endpoint Security Software market in 2014 to 4.6%, up from 4.4% the previous year. The market as a whole grew by 2.6%, with total revenues among all vendors reaching $9.0 billion, according to the IDC “Worldwide Endpoint Security Market Shares, 2014” (doc #US40546915, December 2015) report. Also in the corporate segment, ESET posted healthy growth of 6.4% in 2014, increasing its market share by 0.1 percentage point’s year-onyear, to 5.4%. “We are proud of our record of growth that has placed up us among the top 5 vendors in the global endpoint security market. Our growth is organic and there is a huge amount of hard work behind it. “, said Ignacio Sbampato, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at ESET.
Telecraft E-Solutions Wins Avaya Award Telecraft E-Solutions has won the Partner of the year – India at the recent Avaya Partner Forum 2016, held recently in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Says Abhishek Bhatia, Managing Director of Telecraft, “I am thankful to Avaya for the recognition. I guess what worked in our favour is our performance across the entire portfolio – voice, data and video. We did justice to the entire product stack, and I feel the award is a reward for this commitment. We promise to live up to the honour bestowed on us, and will continue to be part of Avaya’s growth story in India.” The highlight of the Avaya Partner Forum 2016, a two-day event hosted at the Atlantis the Palm in Dubai, the Avaya Awards celebrated the role Avaya Connect channel partners have played in driving Avaya’s success across the combined geographies. As customers’ needs and challenges evolve, Avaya’s partners are central to its strategy of delivering services-led, outcome-focused engagement. More than 2,000 channel partners from across the combined regions interacted with Avaya global and solutions leaders and industry experts at keynote addresses, seminars and expert sessions at the Avaya Partner Forum.
SNIPPETS
SanDisk Unveils World’s Thinnest 1TB SSD SanDisk Corporation launches the new SanDisk X400 SSD, which is the thinnest 1TB M.2 SSD on the earth. It is the first single-sided 1TB SATA M.2 form factor with a mere 1.5mm height. The X400 SSD is designed for fast start-up and application launch, as well as for extended battery life. Consumer research conducted by SanDisk in late 2015 indicates that these benefits are important for more than 70% of consumers when using PCs.1. “Consumers have spoken. They want to work faster, with fewer interruptions. Our ultraslim 1TB2 M.2 X400 SSD enables our OEM customers to build completely new form factors with outstanding reliability and the near-instant boot-up and application loading that consumers expect,” said Tarun Loomba, Vice President and General Manager of Client Storage Solutions at SanDisk. “The X400 SSD is the flexible, highly reliable platform that our customers need to ensure an exceptional user experience for consumers.”
IN2IT TECHNOLOGIES TO OFFER MICROSOFT CLOUD In2IT Technologies brings enterprise-grade cloud technology from Microsoft to Orissa. The company provides a wide array of Microsoft cloud services including Office 365, Azure and CRM Online, to its customers from different industry sectors – Govt., Education, BFSI, Utility and Enterprise. These services can help the businesses in Odisha grow and become more profitable and productive. With modern technologies like cloud, companies will be able to connect better with suppliers, distributors, government agencies and grow their business. Office 365, Azure and CRM Online are available (L-R) Sanchit Vir Gogia, Greyhound from the India datacenters of Microsoft and ensure the highest level of security and regulatory compliance. research, Alok Lall, Microsoft, Rudra Shatapathy, In2IT Technologies Pvt Ltd With an expansive network of 10,000+ partners, Microsoft understands the needs and challenges of businesses including large enterprises and SMBs and is working closely with them to support them in their cloud journey. In2IT Technologies Pvt Ltd, has registered 75% year-on-year growth in its business, riding on high adoption of Microsoft Office 365, Azure and CRM amongst its customers. It aims to extend this success to more businesses in the state. Rudra Shankar Shatapathy, Managing Director, In2IT Technologies Pvt. Ltd, “Our association with Microsoft is a major step in this direction and we will continue to work towards enabling the digital transformation of businesses across various sectors.”
EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT
PRELIMINARY WORLDWIDE PC VENDOR UNIT SHIPMENT ESTIMATES FOR 4Q15 (THOUSANDS OF UNITS) COMPANY
4Q15 SHIPMENTS
4Q15 MARKET SHARE (%)
4Q14 SHIPMENTS
4Q14 MARKET
4Q15-4Q14
SHARE (%)
GROWTH (%)
Lenovo
15,384
20.3
16,061
19.4
-4.2
HP
14,206
18.8
15,452
18.7
-8.1
Dell
10,236
13.5
10,783
13.1
-5.1
Asus
6,002
7.9
6,201
7.5
-3.2
Apple
5,675
7.5
5,519
6.7
2.8
Acer Group
5,277
7.0
5,939
7.2
-11.2
Others
18,940
25.0
22,635
27.4
-16.3
Grand Total
75,720
100.0
82,590
100.0
-8.3
Notes: Data includes desk-based PCs, notebook PCs, and ultramobile premium. All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels. Source: Gartner (January 2016)
12 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
EMC’s Niranjan Thirumale to Lead VMware’s R&D India Team. He succeeds Niranjan Maka, who has moved to the company’s headquarters at Palo Alto, California. Commvault appointed Owen Taraniuk as Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan. Responsible for leading and driving growth in the company’s recently launched next generation solutions portfolio, including the Commvault Data Platform, Taraniuk brings 25 years’ experience.
Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic has bolstered its leadership ranks with the appointment of Rajan Bhandari as its President – Sales.
SNIPPETS
Emerson Network Power Adds Capabilities to Trellis Platform Emerson Network Power added new capabilities and modules for its Trellis platform—including the addition of Trellis Thermal System Manager, a comprehensive environmental monitoring and management module that tracks the data center’s thermal profile to the device level. Trellis Thermal System Manager offers time savings on equipment installation, enables increased cooling efficiency, and helps to identify and eradicate hot spots. The updated Trellis platform is available globally. This is the third major update of the Trellis platform data center infrastructure management (DCIM) since its initial release in 2012. Other new features include: Integration with Emerson Network Power’s Avocent DSView management software to enable secure, remote management of data center infrastructure.
SEAGATE OFFERS HIGHEST-CAPACITY NAS HDD SMES Seagate Technology has launched the Seagate NAS HDD 8TB, believed to be the world’s highest-capacity drive optimized for RAID, NAS and server storage. These drives address the ever-growing data challenges for the SMB, SOHO and creative professional segments. The Seagate NAS HDD 8TB is the largest NAS optimized drive on the market. That means businesses will require fewer drives—and subsequently fewer expensive enclosures—to meet their data storage needs. The new 8TB drives are designed for tower enclosures with one to eight bays, delivering up to 64TB in a single eight-bay desktop form factor. This high storage density gives small business the high capacity and flexibility to address the data challenges on the immediate horizon while preparing Seagate NAS HDD 8TB for the future. Data volumes continue to increase at an astounding rate, with IDC’s Digital Universe Study forecasting that the world’s annual data creation will increase by ten-fold between 2013 and 2020 to 44 zettabytes. Seagate’s own research has revealed that SMBs in particular are choosing NAS solutions over other storage technologies such as storage area networks (SAN) and direct attached storage (DAS) to help manage this looming surge in data. Of the people who preferred NAS, 18% do so because of price, 16% for ease-of-use and 10% for quality.
NVIDIA Showcased VR-Ready PCs and Add-in Cards NVIDIA unveiled a VR-ready program to help gamers navigate their way to great virtual reality experiences. Partnered with PC and notebook makers and add-in card providers to deliver “GeForce GTX VR Ready” systems and graphics cards that deliver an immersive VR gaming experience, NVDIA showcased the solutions at CES 2016, Las Vegas. The program minimizes confusion regarding which equipment is necessary to play the range of VR games and applications increasingly coming to market. Delivering a great VR experience demands seven times the graphics processing power of traditional 3D games and applications – driving framerates above 90 frames per second (fps) for two simultaneous images (one for each eye). “For customers, navigating an emerging technology like VR can be daunting,” said Jason Paul, general manager of emerging technologies at NVIDIA. “We’re working with trusted partners worldwide to simplify the buying process with a GeForce GTX VR Ready badge that will let customers quickly identify PCs or add-in cards that are capable of handling the demands of VR.”
Leadtek NVIDIA NVS 810 Graphics Card LEADTEK launches all-new NVIDIA NVS 810 professional graphics card. The NVS series is currently provided with the best multi-display solution available on the market. The newly released NVIDIA NVS 810 graphics board delivers exceptional display connectivity, cost-effective scalability, and advanced image management capabilities that make it easy to drive any multi-display digital signage setup. It’s the first to offer eight mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors capable of driving true 4K displays at 30 Hz, combined with the world’s most advanced GPU architecture—all in a single-slot form factor. From the perspective of image management, NVS 810 is capable of tapping into the powerful functions provided by NVDIA DesignWorks suite tool offering excellent and advanced image management capabilities. The outstanding technologies like NVIDIA Mosaic and Warp & Blend help you achieve even the most demanding display configurations with ease. This makes the NVS 810 the only solution to deliver flexible display connectivity, performance and uncompromised reliability you need to deploy even the most demanding signage installations. Further, NVIDIA NVS 810 is priced at Rs. 83,800.
14 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
Lenovo Unveils New ThinkPad X1 Series
Lenovo unveiled its newly expanded X1 portfolio. The series includes new additions such as ThinkPad X1 Tablet, ThinkPad X1 Yoga, and ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkCentre X1 all-in-one. As per the release the modular design of the ThinkPad X1 Tablet offers something no other tablet can – adding functionality through simple clip-on optional modules: Need more battery? The Productivity Module increases use up to 15 hours tota Ready to present? The Presenter Module includes a pico projector and HDMI port Creating in 3D? Add the 3D Imaging Module with its rear-facing Intel RealSense camera Similarly, ThinkPad X1 Yoga is incredibly thin at just 0.66 inches and light at only 2.8 pounds.
SNIPPETS
Pitney Bowes Expands in India, Opens office in Gurgaon Pitney Bowes, a global technology company providing products and solutions to power commerce, has opened a 6,331-square-foot office in the Time Tower Building in Gurgaon, India. President and Chief Executive Officer Marc Lautenbach and a team of Pitney Bowes employees officially opened the doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Pitney Bowes focuses on helping clients harness the increasingly convergent physical and digital technologies that power commerce.
More than 1,100 innovation team members globally have completed training in the areas of Data Science, Big Data, Cloud, Mobile, and API management. Pitney Bowes innovators work closely with technology partners and clients on open platforms to develop solutions that drive successful business outcomes. “Collaboration on open platforms with our clients and partners has greatly increased our ability to bring physical and digital solutions to market,” said Manish Choudhary of Pitney Bowes .
Xerox Shuts Down Counterfeit and Illegal Aftermarket Supply Operations
In response to block the counterfeit printer supplies, which estimates to be $3.5 billion globally for genuine supplies, Xerox has conducted a string of raids, product seizures and trademark enforcement actions to protect customers from the hazards of counterfeit supplies. Xerox closely monitors the ordering and distribution of its genuine supplies and works with governmental authorities to stop the sale of counterfeits. Recent counterfeit prevention efforts include: The confiscation of materials to produce thousands of fake Xerox cartridges at a factory in Morocco owned and operated by an importer/distributor. With a street value estimated to exceed $2.5 million, the owner of the factory is in jail awaiting charges.
Konica Minolta Unveils MGI JETvarnish 3DS with iFOIL in India Konica Minolta launched “JETvarnish 3DS” with iFoilinline digital foiling module to help printers expand their services to include new amazing spot UV and 3D tactile varnishing capabilities at Hall 1 Stall D-21, at Pamex 2015. The JETvarnish 3DS takes digital spot UV coating to a new dimension, featuring increased output for flat spot UV jobs and elegant 3D raised effects. This luxury, tactile finish allows users to differentiate themselves to gain new customers and venture into new markets. In-line with the JETvarnish 3DS, the iFOILsmodule uses a revolutionary new digital process which produces hot foiling without the use of dies, plates or make-ready.
DataWind Expands its tablet range DataWind has expanded its portfolio by launching new tablet to its range 7SC* at a retail price of only Rs. 2,999 inclusive of all taxes. The tablet offers free internet browsing for one year under a tie-up with RComand Telenor network on a prepaid GSM sim card and Datawind has signed an exclusive agreement with Den Snapdeal TVShop for selling these tablets through the latter’s 24X7 TV-commerce channel. Commenting on the launch, Suneet Singh Tuli, President & CEO, DataWind Inc., said, “The new range of smartphones and tablets are powered with free unlimited Internet browsing for a year on Reliance Communications (RCom) and Telenor network.”
DIGEST PORTRONICS LAUNCHES YOGG – THE NEW GENERATION SMART WRISTBAND Portronics proudly announces the much awaited launch of its new generation Smart Wristband – YOGG, your very own personal fitness and activity tracker that offers a wide range of features to keep you on track with your fitness regime with ease. The Portronics YOGG smart wristband is a 24*7 wearable device that comes in stylish black colour with a wide OLED display screen of 0.9inches that will show off your daily stats, a watch as well as caller ID for your Smartphone. It is paired with an easy mobile app which is good even for beginners.
ADATA PARTNERS COMPUAGE ADATA Technology has partnered with IT distributor Compuage Infocom Ltd., for the complete ADATA power bank portfolio. The move extends ADATA distribution range by adding Compuage as a product provider, offering Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified mobile power banks to customers across India. ADATA and Compuage have been successfully cooperating in the DRAM segment for several years. ADATA and Compuage anticipate rapid sales growth in 2016 as the partnership takes hold and product distribution expands to cover more of the massive Indian mobile accessory market.
PANASONIC LAUNCHES SCHTB3GW-K SOUNDBAR To Panasonic launches its SC-HTB3GW-K Soundbar with a dynamic futuristic design. The powerful bass-reflex multi speaker units guarantee a superior listening experience according to the type of content. The latest SC-HTB3GW-K soundbar delivers room-filling sound and clean, crisp vocals whether sitting directly in front of the TV or off to the side. The stunningly powerful 20W RMS SCHTB3GW-K soundbar comes with metallic punch hole front grill and chrome finished sides offering a perfect combination of vocal clarity and looks. The separate controls for Voice, Bass, and Master Volume supports easy-to-use feature through its remote control. Listeners can enjoy music, movies and games with unmatched levels of clarity.
MATRIX CONVERGED SOLUTION FOR BFSI Matrix NAVAN CNX200 which comes with integrated Voice and Data Services Solution makes specialized solutions for BFSI helps to lower communication cost, connect multi-branch offices, create flexible workplace for employees and increase reach to field professionals. It enhances professional visibility with AutoAttendants, Voice Mail, SMS and CTI. It also bypasses PSTN toll and securely integrate branch offices over IP telephony. It allows the customers to select the cost-effective route to reach customer using VoIP, GSM, CO Lines. And finally, it is easy to connect with field employees using Mobile Softphone app.
SME CHANNELS 15 JANUARY 2016
SNIPPETS
TP-LINK Enters the Mobile Devices Segment with ‘Neffos’ SMB networking products provider TP-LINK has entered the mobile devices market with the launch of its new brand line Neffos (pronounced “nef ’-os”). The brand name, taken from Greek language, means “clouds” and has an additional meaning that is “very exciting” when understood in the context announced the press release. The release of Neffos marks TP-LINK’s expansion from fixed equipment (router, smart home system, cloud service) to mobile devices that are part of digital ecosystem for the users. With the current accumulation of technology in the telecommunication industry, TP-LINK thrives to make the best of humanized design. Neffos is a breakthrough for TP-LINK to set up a link with smart devices through standard protocol to create an ideal digital ecosystem for users. Jeffrey Chao, President, TP-LINK, said, “Our original intention of developing Neffos was about creating a unique digital experience by establishing a seamless connection between people and devices.”
Kingston To Ship Two New Versions Mobile Chargers
Lenovo and Google Partner On New Project Tango Device Lenovo unveiled the development of the first consumer mobile device with Project Tango in collaboration with Google. Available in summer 2016, the new smartphone, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, turns the screen into a magic window that can overlay digital information and objects onto the real world. Lenovo, Google, and Qualcomm Technologies are working closely together Chen Xudong, senior vice president and to optimize the software and hardware to president, Mobile Business Group, Lenovo ensure consumers get the most out of the Project Tango platform. Google’s Project Tango is a technology platform that uses advanced computer vision, depth sensing, and motion tracking to create on-screen 3D experiences, allowing users to explore their physical environments via their device. Specialized hardware and software combine to let the device react to every movement of the user, when they step forward, backward, or lean side to side. App developers can transform your home into a game level, or create a magic window into virtual and augmented environments. “To break new ground in today’s hypercompetitive smartphone and tablet industries, we must take innovation risks – it’s the only way to truly change the way people use mobile technology,” says Chen Xudong, senior vice president and president, Mobile Business Group, Lenovo.
Kingston has announced two additions to its Wireless family with MobileLite Wireless G3 and MobileLite Wireless Pro. MobileLite Wireless G3 provides mobile device users an extra boost when on the go. With its large 5400 mAh battery fully charged, MLWG3 can charge smartphones up to two times1. Charging devices is also faster2 with 2A output charging maximum. Similar to previous generations, MLWG3 has a USB port and SD card slot allowing users to access files on a USB Flash drive or SD card3 on their smartphone or tablet wirelessly. Through the MobileLite app, users can easily transfer, backup or share photos, videos and other content without having to use a PC. This also allows users to free up precious space on mobile devices without deleting or using Cloud based backups.
Zebronics Launches the Starvision Surveillance Camera Solutions Zebronics India has entered into surveillance market recently. The company has introduced 2 new cameras in starvision range IP and CVI. The first camera in this range is ZEB-IPS3MB40M-VF. Its a 3MP bullet IP camera with 40meters of IR range. It has 2.8-12mm varifocal lens. It comes with automatic flicker control for high quality flicker free video. The CVI bullet model ZEB-CVIS1.3M30M comes with 1.3MP CMOS sensor. It has IR distance of 30meter. There are many new products planned for starvision range. All these products and more will be on display and demo at IFSEC India 2015.
16 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
Frontech launches Notebook Cooling Pad – JIL 6018 at Rs.650/Frontech has launched its latest Notebook Cooling Pad – JIL 6018, which maintains safer temperatures to ensure that your notebook delivers gives the performance you expect. Priced at Rs. 650/- the ergonomically designed JIL 6018 with the sturdy engineering offers 5 different height settings for better viewing angle which also eases the pain of neck and wrist for heavy users. The adjustable width settings are designed exclusively for accommodating from notebook to large size notebook, including wide screen with LED silent fan and metal grids. Furthermore, the Anti-slip design ensures the note book safety and four rubber feet prevent scratches on any desk. The cooling pad also ensures a slim and smart design for notebook models.
SNIPPETS
Ruckus Wireless Recognized as Leader by IDC Ruckus Wireless was named a “Leader” in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise WLAN 2015-2016 Vendor Assessment, doc #US40653915, December 2015. Ruckus is the only pure-play wireless vendor in the leaders category. “We’re thrilled that the IDC MarketScape has recognized Ruckus as a leader in the enterprise Wi-Fi market,” said Kash Shaikh, vice president of marketing and business development at Ruckus. “Our mission is to deliver a simply better wireless experience with solutions that deliver flexibility and avoid vendor lock-in, and the IDC MarketScape’s recognition validates the hard work of our product, sales and customer service teams – and, of course, of our incredible network of 11,000-plus partners around the world.”
Dell Offers Lync and Skype Dell unveiled two new additions to its cloud clientcomputing portfolio to optimize communication productivity for new and existing thin client users and make it easier, faster, and more cost-effective to deploy and run Citrix environments. Dell unveiled Wyse ThinOS 8.2, the latest release of its highly secure thin client software, which now offers Lync 2010, Lync 2013 and the Skype for Business client for Lync 2015 (UI mode) via the Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack. Dell also released a new version Steve lalla_dell of its innovative Dell Appliance for Wyse – Citrix, a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) appliance which simplifies and merges the server, storage and networking components required to deploy a Citrix environment into an easy-to-buy 2U module that starts small and provides scale-out capabilities for up to 5,000 users with Citrix XenDesktop. These solutions highlight Dell’s commitment to accelerate the adoption of virtual desktop infrastructure across a vast range of use cases, making VDI an increasingly attractive option for organizations of all sizes, including smaller businesses, to deploy and manage throughout their Citrix architectures.
HP Showcases Photo Printing Capabilities at CEIF HP at the Consumer Electronic Imaging Fair 2016 is aiming to build greater awareness with print service providers and professional photo labs around HP’s Indigo digital printing and how it can open newer possibilities for customers involved in photo and photo specialty printing. Throughout the four days of CEIF 2016, HP at its booth (Booth C1, Hall 2), will organize multiple theatre shows, demonstrate rich photo printing applications and showcase HP’s printers and presses including the flagship HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press to the visitors. “The Indian photography industry is constantly evolving and CEIF is the best platform that enables this evolution. Through CEIF, HP has been transforming the professional photo printing by introducing newer applications year after year. This year’s introduction of HP Indigo 10000 at CEIF, that is capable of printing large sized prints with dimensions of up to 20 X 30 inches has fuelled the scope of professional photo printing application to unimaginable levels.” said A. Appadurai, Country Manager, Indigo, Graphics Solutions Business, HP Inc. India. “Applications like the mega photo books, smart photo books, portrait enlargements, posters, wall calendars etc. have been a huge hit and the photographers and designers who create these lasting memories will now introduce novel and innovative applications with HP’s Indigo printing technology.”
Spectranet Launches 100 Mbps Internet Services Spectranet has launched its 100 Mbps, truly-unlimited, symmetric residential internet service at a highly affordable price of Rs 1199. Spectranet is currently offering this service in Gurgaon along with a never-before no-obligation 3-month trial offer, with plans to replicate the same across the country. This is a first for India. Never before has such abundant symmetric bandwidth (100 Mbps) been provided at such an affordable price (Rs 1199) with no caps on data download usage. There is no reductions in bandwidth speeds after customers reach an arbitrary data download limit, making the service ‘Truly Unlimited’. And this abundant bandwidth is provided symmetrically – remaining the same for upload and download, thereby reflecting the fact that netizens today are active participators in the internet and not just passive users – they create, curate and consume content.
MAIT Hosts Workshop on Best Practices in IT Procurement MAIT recently conducted a sensitization workshop on ‘Good Procurement Practices for Information Technology’ in association with the Department of Information and Technology, Government of Kerala. The workshop laid emphasis on the need for adoption of best practices for IT Procurement by government and semi-government organizations. More than 150 officers from different government departments attended the event and gained insights on IT Procurement Procedures being followed in the IT industry. While delivering the keynote address, P H Kurian IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries & IT, Government of Kerala discussed the importance of standardization of procedures in procurement of IT goods and services. He said, “There is a great potential for small and medium sized companies in government procurement. We should try and bring in innovative procurement practices such as the Swiss Challenge process in software procurement, which is part of the approved IT Policy. This will enable the government to get quality products in least possible time.” Kurian also expressed his thoughts on how to formulate vendor neutral specifications.
SME CHANNELS 17 JANUARY 2016
SNIPPETS
ECS Hosted Dealers’ Connect Hardware & PC System manufacturer Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) organized a Dealer’s Meet themed “The Synonym of New Generation system” mini PCs and “Game on” motherboards across target regions in India. These target regions comprised Nagpur, Guwahati, Agartala, Chennai, Jaipur and Indore. The meet was held on 9th August in Nagpur, 9th September in Guwahati and Agartala, 20th November in Chennai, 4th December in Jaipur and 11th December in Indore. Rajshekhar Bhatt, Country Manager, ECS India, said, “These meets were held to acknowledge our partners and extended teams who have successfully assisted us to deliver quality products to end-users. It was also designed in a way to update the partners about the latest products and targeted growing number of consumers. Such dealer’s connect will help our partners gain confidence.”
LENOVO SETS UP ITS OWN SERVICE CENTERS Lenovo has launched Lenovo’s wholly owned and operated service centers in New Delhi and Bangalore. This is in line with Lenovo’s strategy to provide a highly differentiated and interactive customer experience. These centers with trained staff will service and address Lenovo Desktops, Notebooks and Tablets related queries. Speaking on this milestone Sudipto Ghosh, Executive Director Services, Lenovo India, said, “As we are shifting from a product centric company to a customer centric company, there is an increasing need to focus on after sales service. Our intent of launching this flag ship service centers is to create a bench mark which can be easily replicated by our authorized service partners. This will also offer a more technology driven Lenovo Solution to our customers.” India is one of the first countries in the Asia Pacific region to launch Lenovo owned service centers. These centers are centrally located at Hemakunt Towers, Nehru Place in Delhi and at Aurobindo Marg, 4th T block, Jayanagar Bangalore. They are designed to address specific customer queries and provide assistance to products which are beyond warranty. It is designed to create an interactive experience with an online queue management system where users can register their complaint online at service center and allows them to track their wait time. In the near future, Lenovo accessories and warranty upgrades will also be sold at these centers. In addition to this, Lenovo has also launched an app called ‘Lencare’ on Google Play store. This one of a kind app allows customers to register their machine, check their service order, schedule a call back and find a carry-in service center close to their locality.
Trend Micro Ranked Top in Cloud Security Approach Trend Micro has been awarded “Security Innovation of Year 2015” by Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) APAC, which recognizes the very best in the technology industry and rewards the leading organizations for innovation and performance in the cloud sector. Trend Micro was ranked top on the merits of its genuinely innovative approach to cloud security. “As a pioneer in security technology and service innovation, we have been staying close to it as a core strength driving our success,” said Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director of Asia Pacific, Trend Micro. “Innovation plays an especially important role today in the midst of rapid digital transformation, when the cybersecurity landscape is being fast reshaped. Each shift in the way people communicate and conduct business online has been and will continue introducing new security challenges. To protect enterprises against threats rising from emerging platforms like the cloud and IoT devices, we must continually invest in research and innovating our core technologies.”
QHMPL launches 10,400mAH GOLD POWER BANK QHMPL, under the brand ‘Quantum Hi-Tech’, launches 10400mAh Power Bank. Priced at Rs. 1990/-, 10400mAh power bank is ergonomically friendly and easy to hold. The gleaming gold colour not only brings a bold look but also caters to all tastes and age group, suiting every budget. It’s rounded edges with impeccable smoothness in the aluminium casing builds a stronger surface, resistant to fading, wear and corrosion. Commenting on the launch Mr. Ashish Mutneja, Director Quantum Hi Tech says,“Quantum 10,400mAh is an ideal gifting solution that makes your gifting experience hassle-free and also helps you save precious time on the right search during festivity.With its sleek design and affordable price, we are confident that it will appeal to all our esteemed customers and be one of the most favoured and functional pick of the Christmas season.” The 10400mAh power bank features, one Micro-USB port and gives DC 5.1V/2.1A MAX (Auto Switch Mobile phone Dependent). The portable charger supports up to 3.5 full charges with its supersized capacity and can also withstand up to 300-500 times charge discharge cycle.
18 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
Transcend Releases Industrial-Grade Solutions It has a transfer speed reaching up to 20MB/s, Transcend SDHC100I memory cards embedded with SLC NAND flash chips fulfill industrial-grade applications with larger storage capacity and outstanding performance. Suited for devices that require extensive read/write under harsh environmental conditions, the cards not only operate effectively from -40°C to 85°C but also are built in with ECC and S.M.A.R.T. functions to ensure reliable data transfer and self-monitoring capability. Compliant with SD Specification Version 3.0 and with the top-of-the-line Class 10 speed rating, Transcend SDHC100I memory cards provide exceptional transfer rates of up to 20MB per second. In order to meet the industrial demands of intensive programming under harsh environmental conditions, the cards are not only shock resistance but also offering a wide flexibility of operating temperature between -40°C and 85°C to greatly increase the durability. Manufactured using high-quality SLC flash chips, these memory cards guarantee stability in data retention and longer endurance than MLC flash chips.
SME CHAT
SHIBU PAUL, REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR – INDIA, ME AND SEA AT ARRAY NETWORKS
WE ARE REDUCING THE NUMBER OF PARTNERS Government of India has launched a number of schemes for the Indian manufacturers and developers under the digital India and make in India. So it is time for the domestic industry to take advantage and prove the mettle.
How is Array Networks leveraging on the slew of initiatives launched by the govt. of India? The Digital India initiative aims to bridge the digital gap across the country and transform our approach to governance and public welfare. Array Networks is already working very closely with the government and with various service providers to offer smart services for smart city projects. We have already won a few projects and are looking forward to add more thrust by taking some more projects this year. These initiatives have created huge opportunities for the networking and security industry and we have deployed an exclusive team dedicated to help government as well as the partners involved in delivering the integrated solution. Have you undertaken any government projects? Yes, Array Networks has bagged many such projects both from central and state governments. For example, Array Networks has deployed many solutions to e-goverance projects like UIDAI, Treasury, Income tax, CCTNS, State data centers and agriculture department.
Net neutrality is still creating confusion among people. Facebook’s free basics it’s said is against net neutrality. What is your take on it? The most compelling part of the internet is its free content which is independent of the source. I strongly feel it should be kept the same. The moment the sanctity is touched service providers can take advantage to offer selective content suiting their requirement. It will become more business oriented than serving free basic services to people. Protecting web applications and cloud services with the help of AWF Series web application firewall appliances. Array Networks AWF Series next-generation web application firewall is designed to extend beyond traditional firewalls to provide comprehensive protection for business-critical Web applications. This series is efficient enough to block the attack traffic in real time without affecting the normal flow of business data traffic. In short, AWF Series provides extremely fine-grained attack detection and analysis capabilities while
“WE WILL BE INVESTING IN THE FORM OF RESOURCE FUNDING, BACKEND MARGINS, PERFORMANCE BONUS ETC. ” maximizing protection against the most common Web application threats including SQL injection attacks, Web page tampering, Web site malicious code, and disclosure of sensitive information. What is Partner and channel strategy? We are reducing the number of partners we have on one side and on other we are focusing on strengthening our existing partners. We will be investing in the form of resource funding, backend margins, performance bonus etc. What is planned for 2016? We just want to keep up our growth momentum intact and maintain the performance that we have delivered in the previous quarters. Array has significantly grown by 80% in FY 15. This figure is just a reflection of our constant efforts, confidence and commitment. We will continue to focus on our core verticals and the rest will be driven by our channel partners.
SME CHANNELS 19 JANUARY 2016
INDUSTRY WATCH
CES
CES 2016 BROUGHT IN
GARY SHAPIRO PRESIDENT AND CEO, CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION
World’s Largest Innovation Event Features GroundBreaking Technologies, Global Tech Leaders and Entertainment Elite
“THE PRODUCTS THAT DEBUTED AT CES WILL ADDRESS MANY OF THE WORLD’S MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS”
INNOVATION TO THE WORLD BY SANJIB MOHAPATRA sanjib@smechannels.com
O
ur CES 2016 shined a spotlight on innovation that will transform our world with 3,887 exhibiting companies showcasing ground-breaking technologies, and launching some 20,000 new products at the event. CES 2016, the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, brought together tech and other business leaders from around the world, policymakers and Hollywood’s foremost influencers for a star-studded event that brought the next-generation of innovation to the global stage. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM, formerly the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), CES 2016 ran January 6-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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“CES 2016 marked the largest unveiling of gamechanging innovation in the world, with the largest show floor - more than 2.47 million net square feet - in CES history,” said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association. “The products that debuted at CES will address many of the world’s most pressing problems, making improvements in healthcare, agriculture, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, retail and beyond, while creating new markets, new opportunities and new jobs.” “CES is the premier event underscoring the trend in consumers choosing experiences over products,” said Bridget Karlin, managing director, Internet of Things, Intel. “CES brings innovations from every corner of the world, made possible by both large and small companies. Intel is excited and pleased to
be part of CES.” Top executives from major global brands took to the CES stage to introduce products, make company announcements and provide insight into the future of innovation, including keynotes from GM’s Mary Barra, IBM’s Ginni Rometty, Intel’s Brian Krzanich, Netflix’s Reed Hastings, Samsung’s Dr. WP Hong, Volkswagen’s Dr. Herbert Diess, YouTube’s Robert Kyncl, NBCUniversal’s Steve Burke and an all-star lineup of panelists, including Bosch’s Dr. Volkmar Denner, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Qualcomm’s Steve Mollenkopf and Mobileye’s Prof. Amnon Shashua who discussed the future of urban mobility. Additionally, the CES 2016 Conference Program featured more than 200 sessions with more than 800 speakers represent-
CES
ing every major industry from automotive, retail, entertainment, engineering, software and more. CES 2016 also was a must-attend event for policymakers and regulators to engage with the technology companies driving innovation and the global economy. Twenty-seven international, federal, state and local government officials delivered remarks or spoke on panels, including Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta, every member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), four members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Michelle Lee, Sens. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Mark Warner (D-VA),
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and France’s Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs, Emmanuel Macron. In total, more than 160 top policymakers, regulators and staff attended CES 2016. “CES 2016 continues to be the premier showcase of innovation in the world, offering a multifaceted experience to the visitors,” said Ximena Hartsock, founder and president, Phone2action. “It gets bigger and better every year.” Major Hollywood executives, top celebrities, sports legends, musicians and TV personalities attended CES 2016 to promote the latest innovations and witness the next generation of technologies coming to market. Some of the hottest names on the CES show floor included TV/ radio host, producer and entrepreneur Ryan Seacrest; radio/
INDUSTRY WATCH
TV personality Nick Cannon; entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban; sportscaster Ernie Johnson; NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley; MLB superstars Alex Rodriguez and Cal Ripken Jr.; Olympian Michael Phelps and TV stars Jenny McCarthy, Donnie Wahlberg, Chelsea Handler, Krysten Ritter and Will Arnett. Technologies showcased at CES 2016 spanned the entire tech ecosystem from the latest in 3D printing, sensors, wearables, robotics, automotive, smart home and the Internet of Things. The show floor featured more than 25 technologyspecific Marketplaces, including Eureka Park, which featured a record-breaking 500 startups from 29 countries.
SME CHANNELS 21 JANUARY 2016
COVER STORY
DISTRIBUTION IS ALL ABOUT
SERVICING WELL
In today’s hyper competitive market landscape, the traditional IT distributors are taking value addition to the core and have evolved from pure-play hardware players to a full service partners. BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com
T
oday, IT vendors no more believe in hardware-centric business but are highly becoming ‘service professionals’ to flatter sales. They are increasingly going all the way to help distributors become multifunctional— encouraging and educating— them to embark on a win-win strategy, giving them all assistance to groom channel partners to value-added service leaders. Neoteric Infomatique Executive Director Subroto Das feels that the role of distributors has been evolved over the time and they are no more inventory managers but are becoming business developers through several sales-oriented initiatives. “Traditionally a distributor’s role has been to plan and manage inventory, logistics, channel credit, payments and market coverage. However, over the years, their role has evolved and today a distributor is expected to recruit and train channels, provide marketing support for business development, assist partners with pre-sales and implementation services, demand generation, and much more,” Das said. “Hardware is a business of diminishing returns. Hence, every partner or distributor needs to add value to offerings in order to grow their businesses and to remain relevant in the market,” company’s top executive felt. Neoteric, over the past 5 years, has evolved as
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a strong value-added distributor and beefed up commercial portfolio with several value-added services aimed to help solution providers to cater to small and medium businesses and large enterprises. We understand that to stay relevant in the technology marketplace, we have to continuously evolve and help our partners evolve, Das said, adding that Neoteric has always focused on value-addition by providing all kind of support for brand and business development, customer marketing and demand generation. Distributors continue to face fundamental challenges that every business deal with and are largely related to inventory management, channel credit and logistics. With newer ICT technologies making dent in the market, IT partners are increasingly looking to tap new business opportunities such as cloud, data analytics, social media and enterprise mobility. Technology industry, Das said, is the most dynamic industry with ever changing needs and business landscape, which creates newer challenges for businesses and in every four to five years, market see a disruptive technology. He believes that newer opportunities require distributors to change their outlook and business strategy, and added that any change comes with challenges and it is the reality of every business.
“With the ongoing technology transformation, distributors will need to assist partners to be successful through this journey. Moreover with concepts like 3D printing, Internet of Things, smart homes, IP surveillance, and interactive AV solutions gaining ground, distributors will need to expand their channel ecosystem to include non-IT partners as well,” Das said. Neoteric, in the due course, have built competencies to provide pre-sales services, project implementation services, post-sales support, managed services across domains like unified communications, IP surveillance, networking, AV solutions, smart education, 3D printing, data center and storage solutions. “With new competencies, we are able to enable partners to pitch for more complex projects requiring multi-location implementation and post-sales support, which otherwise may not be possible for them,” company’s top executive opined. In this increasingly competitive environment, distributors must be well prepared to help partners grab larger and newer opportunities in the market. To serve the purpose, Neoteric has acquired several new competencies through strategic partnerships in infrastructure solutions, physical surveillance, enterprise communications, business process automation, professional and corporate
COVER STORY
SME CHANNELS 25 JANUARY 2016
COVER STORY
“DISTRIBUTION MODEL ALONE WILL NOT MEET VENDORS’ GROWING NEED AS THEY HAVE SOLUTIONS EMERGING IN THEIR PORTFOLIO.” SUNIL PILLAI, CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR AT IVALUE
training, software services and managed services domains. With these strategic alliances, the company aims to help partners in many ways such as building industry vertical solutions through partners aimed at small and medium enterprises across different sectors and co-selling with partners in order to help them bid for large end-to-end solutions. “We enabled partners to win several large and multi-regional deals. For instance, in a large government project, we closely worked with a partner to supply 31,000 tablets to Chhattisgarh government. Jointly with the partner, we helped them in commissioning tablets across the government colleges in the state and are providing warranty support at all locations. The project is expected to expand to 1 lakh tablets in 2016,” Das said. Neoteric has recently assisted a partner to execute an order of 1,000 iPads for a leading pharmaceutical company, where it offered the partner value-added services like logistics support to distribute iPads to 1,000 medical representatives across multiple cities; commissioning and configuring the iPads and enterprise app as per company policy; and trained them aptly. It also provides onsite support for devices. With ever-increasing competition among brands and new technologies, distributors play the role of a real companion for vendors. With strong presence, distributors offer a bouquet of services to develop and support partners and represent vendors. “Neoteric has always offered these value-additions to partners from the start as our business philosophy has always been to launch latest products and brands, which require value-addition of training and enabling partners on one hand and creating customer demand on the other hand,” Das said. The company, according to him, introduced several new technologies and brands in India, while many of these brands didn’t have presence in India and hence it had to play the role of a vendor as well as a value-added distributor. Over the years, we have launched several new initiatives and help partners with training and educational content, company said.
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Neoteric enable and nurture partners through initiatives like ‘Explore & Evolve’ events, which are designed for knowledge sharing and learning about best business practices that help partners introspect, develop new strategies and grow their businesses profitably. “We are excited to bring 3D printing technology to the market. We have already rolled out several initiatives to train and enable partners and raising customer awareness about 3D printing technology and we will roll out more initiatives going forward,” Das added. Further, the company said that they have strong competencies in IP surveillance, digital education and interactive AV solutions to help partners partake opportunities around Digital India and Smart City projects. The company today packages products as solutions, offers pre-sales, implementation and postsales support, instead of selling standalone products to the resellers to stay relevant and competitive. Sunil Pillai, Co-Founder and Managing Director at iValue believes that the traditional distribution model alone would not suffice to vendors’ evolving need and said that IT partners should diversify their portfolio. “Distributors play a key role in ensuring availability of product at the right time, place and price to enable partners to effectively address their customer needs,” Pillai said, adding that distribution model alone will not meet vendors’ growing need as they have solutions emerging in their portfolio. Vendor engages distributors for their commodity offerings through supply chain management focus and work together with value-added distributor or reseller for their niche offerings to engineer market and business development activities. In view of growing vendors’ needs and customercentric trends shifting towards cloud and virtualization, value-added distributors have enhanced service skill set beyond implementation and technical support to areas like performance optimization, datacenter integration and service provider. Pillai feels that as market is slowly moving towards hybrid cloud, VADs and VARs are build-
“VALUE-ADDED DISTRIBUTORS AID IN THE VENDORS’ EFFORTS TO GO-TOMARKET AND OFFER HIGH-LEVEL RESOURCES AND SERVICES QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY.” ASHOK KUMAR, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO AT RAH INFOTECH
ing skill set and capabilities to offer customer a solution of choice in private or public or hybrid cloud models. iValue is emerging as one of the fastest growing value-added distributors that has raised the bar on go-to-market front with vertical-focused teams working closely working with customer and vendor, fulfilling desired specifications for datacenter initiatives. The company has also built consulting expertise to understand business needs better for customers in BFSI and government sectors. Vendors, according to Pillai, after addressing commercial needs of customer and partner are left with little in their pocket to justify VADs’ efforts and operational risk they take. Risk due to currency depreciation, have become serious in the last couple of years due to very high volatility, Pillai said, and added that majority of partners operate with very little working capital that allows them to pay distributors only when they collect from customer. While partner shares the risk of delayed collection with VAD along with forex risk, the margin distribution is not proportional to the risks and efforts undertaken by VAD, he opined.
COVER STORY
iValue does not attempt to sell all its solutions through every VAR and instead align few solutions of relevance to every VAR based on their customer base and other solutions they carry. This helps in enhancing relevance of solution with VARs expertise that eventually help customer with better engagement and traction. The company’s front end sales and technical team along with vendor work with VAR teams in the market with customer to jointly grow the business. “We have a marketing team to proactively create opportunities for our vendors and partners through structured customer engagement activities,” Pillai informed. It leverages in-house sales team for engaging specific customer segments for identified solutions through events, mail campaign and phone. The approach, iValue adopts here, is to understand customer business needs and challenges and offer holistic solution to effectively address them. These validated opportunities are then shared with focused partners and jointly worked towards deal closure. The company has also a focused team that works directly with Independent Software Vendors (ISV) to complement data and application protection and management offering along with
their core applications. This marketing initiative has helped it position multiple solutions along with partner’s software solutions and that benefits the entire ecosystem. Rashi Peripherals’ Director, Kapal Pansari feels that a true value-added distributor would go the extra mile to help the partner and engage in such a way that could be rewarding. “The litmus to the above question is the partners’ recognition, A true value add distributor will go the extra mile to help the partner to maximize his profits,” Pansari said, adding that they conduct various up-selling events and keep them updated about the industry standards while a normal distributor is only bothered about liquidating his stocks, and a true value-added distributor seeks to liquidate the stocks of partners’ shelves. Value addition has become synonym with every distributor, irrespective if they provide any services apart from distribution, Rashi Peripherals’ senior executive said. Rashi offers vast marketing support through its marketing and PR activities, to an extent we have taken the digital route to highlight a seller in his particular locality and its after-sales service through nearly 60 service centers across India has
PlugPC
become impeccable. As one tackles challenges and embraces change, we equip our VARs with all market understanding as they need to adapt to the ongoing changes in the market. We ensure to arm the VARs with all and marketing support to make the best of their abilities,” Pansari said. Pansari believes that’s it’s easy to be different, but to be better is a difficult task, and we are constantly improving ourselves. Valued-added distributor has become a common jargon in today’s distribution ecosystem, but “True Value Added Distributor” is a term we have worked for, and awarded appropriately. Rashi’s reach has spread across all lengths and breaths of the nation with 52 branches and 57 centres and operates service centres in not just in class A and B cities of India, but also class C and D cities, as well as maintains collection centres in smaller centres in smaller town that help provide undisrupted services. The company, as its novel approach, allows partners in remote villages have the option of sending RMA goods by either transport or courier. With this three pronged approach we are able to cater over a hundred towns and villages in India.
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SME CHANNELS 27 JANUARY 2016
COVER STORY
“NEOTERIC HAS ALWAYS FOCUSED ON VALUEADDITION BY PROVIDING ALL KIND OF SUPPORT FOR BRAND AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, CUSTOMER MARKETING AND DEMAND GENERATION.” SUBROTO DAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEOTERIC INFOMATIQUE
Pansari said that the company is always open to new marketing ideas, and make their stores equipped with demo units and all possible marketing support. Ashok Kumar, Managing Director and CEO of RAH Infotech is in the opinion that value-added distributors act as an extended arm for vendors and have competencies to drive the market. “Value-added distributors aid in the vendors’ efforts to go-to-market and offer high-level resources and services quickly and efficiently. They act as an extended arm of the vendors, fill the gap in partner marketing skills, generate repeatable demand for partners and drive partner adoption for vendors’ offerings,” Kumar said. In a situation where there’s too much of competition and where margins are thin, mere box pushing may not any more help distributors. Moreover, with rising expectations of partners on pre sales support and from customers on post sales services, it becomes imperative to bring in that value proposition to the whole ecosystem in order to sustain and survive. If you don’t act, some else will. The only way forward is value added distribution. They also have the competencies and solution expertise, as well as the mindshare as established sources for industry trends, he said adding that distributors develop long-term relationships with VARs and resellers by providing best-of-the-breed products, as well as sales and marketing resources to sell these products effectively. Apart from stocking and maintaining good inventory, distributors are now investing in resources to cater to pre-sales, support of the sale and post-sale apart from imparting technical education, Kumar told. From technical support, to in-depth and hands-on training, as well as always-on access to marketing collateral for improved sales results, distributors play a pivotal role in connecting vendors to their partners. The IT distribution is not just about products
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anymore and has shifted towards enablement around services and solutions, Kumar believes, and said that partners see a shift in the ratio of revenue from products and services and enablement around services and solutions is becoming very important. “While the evolution of distributors is still a work in progress, the distributor–partner relationship dynamics have changed and the focus is now towards strengthening the channel partners’ role as an influencer with their customers by deepening a partners’ expertise around business solutions,” Kumar said. A major challenge in channel management is keeping channel members motivated to support the principal, especially when markets are tough. Channel member profitability is a major driver but not the only factor affecting channel member satisfaction and motivation. The need for training the partner sales force on a continuous basis in this dynamic environment can be quite challenging, according to Kumar. With the ever changing dynamics and volatility in the market, gaining a clear picture of demand and achieving visibility to control inventory and costs is one of the major concerns of the distributors today. True value-added distributors empower the channel by educating them about new products, imparting technical training, provide pre-sales and post-sales support, invest in marketing campaigns, help partners with demand generation and more importantly, ensure that the product is available across the country for both evaluation and sales, Kumar said. To help vendors navigate within the space more effectively, RAH Infotech chief suggest that distributors must establish a clear understanding of target markets and geographies for better market penetration, sit down with vendors to map out where they are, where they want to go and identify what success looks like, and should match them up with partners that are in those
“A TRUE VALUE ADD DISTRIBUTOR WILL GO THE EXTRA MILE TO HELP THE PARTNER TO MAXIMIZE HIS PROFITS” KAPAL PANSARI, DIRECTOR, RASHI PERIPHERALS
markets the vendor wants to tap. It is essential for the distributors to work in close partnership with suppliers and constantly seek new and innovative ways to not only deliver more value, but also ensure channel partners have the right resources, solutions and support to best serve their customers while also helping them create new opportunities. Distributors should have the capability to provide guidance as well as technical expertise. To ensure they have optimal resources to help VARs go to market effectively, distributors should constantly train their teams on the latest products and technologies provided by the vendors. RAH Infotech, he said, will be launching a slew of incentive schemes for partners on various product lines, the company carry and are currently designing special programs for some of its loyal partners. The focus is now on channel enablement and helping channels with marketing and demand generation programs along with meeting demo or evaluation demands of the customers and partners. With competition rising, the transformation of IT distributor to a value-added partner for vendor to a full-service provider is palpable while on the flip side, it has become highly imperative for vendor companies to recognize them as a valuable asset, and work towards constant upgrading them and consider them as their natural extension, and not merely an outsourced reseller.
PARTNER CORNER
DEEPAK SHARDA, DIRECTOR, SHARDA SYSTEMS & SERVICES PVT. LTD.,JAIPUR (RAJASTHAN)
MATRIX IS A BRAND THAT STANDS FOR ‘SUBSTANCE’ With the growth in the business there is a natural growth in the communication market. Therefore, the partners in the telecom business find it an upward swing for their business also but what keeps them ahead of the curve is how they differentiate their services.
Brief us about your company? Sharda Systems is an ISO & Crisil Certified 25+ Years Old IT Company in Rajasthan. We have the credit of introducing various new technologies in the Rajasthan IT Market. With the support of Matrix Team, we have learnt the deployment of VOIP & IP PBX, and are now also promoting VoIP Based Telecom Solutions for the last 2-3 Years. What is your turnover and growth percentage? Our current turnover comes up to 1.5 crore every year, with a consistent revenue growth year after year. What kind of solutions and products you are dealing in? We deal in the following solutions and products: l IT Based Solutions like CAT6, Fiber &Wi-Fi Based Networking l IP PBX &VoIP Telephony l CRM Solutions l Server – Client Computing l Building Automation & 3 Tier Multi Apartment Security
l
Remote Branch Connectivity
How do you find telecom market in India? The telecom market is shifting from two wiredtelephony to VoIP telephony at a rapid growth. Users have now started realising & understanding the benefits of VoIP over traditional telephony. VoIPis booming and it will soon become the essential component of any telephony solution, be it for small scale or for large enterprises. What kind of telecom solutions you have? We have telecom solutions provided by Matrix only. We have added a few more value added VoIPproducts from other vendors and other countries as well. How do you find Matrix products in terms of its advantages vis-àvis other brands? Matrix is a brand that stands for ‘SUBSTANCE’ in terms of technology, depth, genuineness and going beyond the mere outer façade & offering more values in all areas. This is what differenti-
“THIS YEAR, WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD MATRIX SURVEILLANCE & ACCESS SOLUTIONS AMONG OUR RANGE OF PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS.”
ates Matrix from its competitors. It strives to offer MORE in everything it does – technology, applications, functions, features, performance, flexibility, reliability and support. Matrix positioning is based on offering more of these true, inherent values which customers expect from infrastructure solutions. The company provides specific solutions with heavy focus on quality and customer service. Key differentiators lie in providing pre-sales, postsales and R&D support. Most importantly, Matrix has an in-house manufacturing unit and R&D Centre to offer quick turnaround for clients. As a partner what kind of products you want to add this year? This year, we would like to add Matrix Surveillance& Access Solutions among our range of products and solutions.
SME CHANNELS 29 JANUARY 2016
DIGITIZATION
CISCO
CISCO DEMONSTRATES POWER OF DIGITISATION Celebrating its 20th anniversary in India, Cisco provides vision to accelerate the digital transformation of India BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com
C
isco celebrated its twenty-year anniversary of ongoing innovation in digitisation, technology offerings, new partnerships and collaborative efforts with companies, communities and cities around India. Over recent years Cisco has established several examples of public-private partnerships, announced local strategic initiatives and expanded collaboration with partners and customers. To mark the occasion, the company chose state of Rajasthan to demonstrate its capacity and capabilities. So both Rajasthan government with Chief Minister, Shrimati Vasundhara Raje along with Mr. Shikhar Agrawal, Commissioner,
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Jaipur Development Authority; Mr. Sanjay Malhotra, Principal Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Rajasthan; shared the stage with Mr. Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and SAARC share the stage and spoke about their achievements in collaboration with each other. Vasundhara Raje, Honorable Chief Minister said, “My vision for the state is to digitally empower every citizen to enhance the quality of life, enable ease of doing business in the state and become an innovation and knowledge hub of the country. ‘Digital Rajasthan’ is a powerful platform to realise that vision. We envision Rajasthan as a role model for digital transformation for other
states to follow. The state of Rajasthan recognises the effort of Cisco to help us lead in this transformation.” As part of the digital blueprint of the state of Rajasthan, the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) is focused on developing smart city infrastructure in Jaipur to transform itself into a digital city of the future. In its first phase, the pink city of Jaipur has created digital infrastructure to offer citizens amenities including intelligent kiosks, wireless broadband, safety and security services, traffic management and environmental updates. JDA has set up a City Infrastructure Management Centre as well as a Response Control Room to manage the city with greater efficiency and effectiveness. In Jaipur’s City Infrastructure Management Centre, nearly all the solutions are integrated into a digital platform. The digital platform built by JDA can aggregate data from various sensors and solutions conduct data analytics and support a number of urban services. In this phase, JDA has implemented the solutions in Jantarmantar, Amer, Albert Hall, Jal Mahal, Ram Niwas Bagh, Hawa Mahal, Central Park and Jawahar Circle; the next phase of implementation in another 25 sites will be completed by the end of February 2016. Through a smart city experience tour for media attendees at Amer Fort, JDA and Cisco demonstrated how digital technology solutions would help citizens. The deployments featured at Amer Fort included connected parking, connected lighting, WiFi, interactive intelligent kiosks with environmental sensors, city surveillance for safety and security and Remote Expert for Government Services (REGS). More importantly, attendees could visualize these solutions as not only connected, but interconnected, and be able to share data. Efficient and reliable transmission of electricity is a fundamental requirement for providing societies and economies with essential energy resources. As part of the digitization program, the state of Rajasthan has announced the smart grid initiative. The Energy Department of Rajasthan has now embarked upon creating three classes of transformations: upgradation and modernization of electrical transmission infrastructure, addition of the digital layer to leverage benefits of ICTs and deployment of smart solutions and tools for intelligent operations, which are the essence of the smart grid and are, needed to provide stable, secure and smart transmission grids. Today, the Rajasthan transmission system handles around 71,000 MU per annum of energy with transmission loss of 4.2%. The smart grid initiative will be leveraged to handle energy of around 100 BU per annum in the next 4-5 years, reduce transmission
CISCO
DIGITIZATION
VASUNDHARA RAJE CHIEF MINISTER, RAJASTHAN
“WE ENVISION RAJASTHAN AS A ROLE MODEL FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR OTHER STATES TO FOLLOW. THE STATE OF RAJASTHAN RECOGNISES THE EFFORT OF CISCO TO HELP US LEAD IN THIS TRANSFORMATION.”
FROM THE LEFT: Vasundhara Raje, Honorable Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shikhar Agarwal, Commissioner of Jaipur Development Authority, Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India & SAARC and Sanjay Malhotra, Principal Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Rajasthan
losses and ensure stable and reliable operation of the transmission grids capable of carrying largescale renewable energy. Cisco’s vision of the digitisation of cities is an integrated process of planning and ultimately building, a sophisticated and forward-thinking IT network ecosystem that will allow for greater connectivity, productivity, and security. Cisco will collaborate with the government of Rajasthan to realise the vision of Digital Rajasthan and will collaborate in the technology initiatives of the state to help Rajasthan drive its digital transformation. Shikhar Agarwal, Commissioner of Jaipur Development Authority, said, “The initiative to transform Jaipur into a smart city has gathered
tremendous momentum since its launch in May 2014. Today, citizens of Jaipur are digitally empowered and this is just the beginning. The vision outlined by our Honorable Chief Minister will help catapult the state to the forefront of the digital revolution. We are happy to have Cisco on board for this transformative project and are certain that we will benefit from the experience and expertise Cisco brings through numerous smart city projects the company has undertaken globally.” Sanjay Malhotra, Principal Secretary, Energy Department, Government of Rajasthan said, “We are happy to inform you that we have embarked upon a comprehensive and scalable smart grid
initiative in the state of Rajasthan with the objective of providing a reliable, stable and efficient grid. We have taken a thoughtful and innovative approach by identifying the business processes and functions to be targeted for efficiency improvements in the power sector. Towards this, we have initiated various projects under the smart grid platform such as laying of fiber optic backbone, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and substation automation. This transformative project is an important step towards making the vision of ‘Digital Rajasthan’ a reality. Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India & SAARC said, “Digitization will be key to how cities, communities and countries maintain global competitiveness, increase GDP growth, foster innovation and create new jobs. The foundation for ‘Digital Rajasthan’ will be intelligent networks which will transform the delivery of citizen services. The future of competition will be between cities and thanks to the government’s visionary leadership, we believe Rajasthan can be a digital hub for the country. At Cisco, we are committed to partner with the Rajasthan government to lead in this digital transformation.
SME CHANNELS 31 JANUARY 2016
CHANNEL GUIDE
VODAFONE
VODAFONE TO TAP SMEs
THROUGH PARTNERS In its pursuit of SMEs, Vodafone makes channel partners as its companion. Therefore, the company is found making decent investments in various tools and programmes to take the partners on board and make their work easy. BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com
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odafone post its success in the mobility and telco business is trying to position in the enterprise business in India. Therefore, they have created a business arm which is called Vodafone Business Services (VBS). This arm has 7 million corporate customers and growing at 20% YoY and contributes around 15% of Vodafone business in india. VBS has expertise in managing M2M and cloud solutions apart from the fixed line and mobility portfolio. This business is supported by close to 131,000 sites, which are connected through 154,000 kilometres of fibre optics. This has a back office in Pune and called centre in Mumbai. Under four BUs VBS address the market i.e. Vodafone global enterprises, which has close to 2000 global accounts; large corporate division, which has 6000 named accounts, then government division to manage state governments all over india and the last one is SME division, which includes companies from Rs.10 to 50 Crores of turnover and Vodafone is eyeing at a number of 4 million in India. This is the segment where Vodafone is trying through the channel partners and making a hot pursuit of the partners who can do so for them. As per Ajay Shegal, Senior VP, SME Business, Vodafone, said, “SME business is growing just double of the growth of VBS. Therefore, the service provider is eyeing at recruiting more and more channel partners who have existing enterprise business.” The opportunity for the SMEs to grow in India is quite evident from the fact that the country
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very strongly pushing ahead under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi for digitization and manufacturing. Along with this, there is a strong vibe around the development of start-ups. So participating in these activities is what is the SMEs are In order to tap the huge potential of SMEs in india, VBS has adopted a three pillar strategy in india in last six months’ time i.e. coverage, intelligence and automation. On the coverage part, Ajay says that their model is quite established but the need to expand and to mature the model. He added, “What we have done at Vodafone is to improve our width in our coverage and adopted a two tier distribution model 1) through the large partners, and the focus is to enhance the number of partners. So, this year the company is looking at having 300 large tier-1 channel partners. And the priority is to structure their business to enable them to service the SME business.” Under these partners, Vodafone has developed the advanced IT resellers and is looking at least 1000 to be tapped. He maintained, “Now since Vodafone is positioned as the ICT player instead of only mobility player, we are now becoming relevant to them. Earlier Vodafone used to be only mobility player but now we are also offering mobility, Audio & Video and also cloud services.” Vodafone has launched cloud storage a few months back and signed up with Microsoft to sell Microsoft office 365 as a partner. And it is also in process of signing up with some other vendors to strengthen SaaS offering. However, as the business matures Vodafone would definitely eye at offering
IaaS. Ajay says, “So, the major focus is to offer value add to the customers beyond mobility. The positioning is towards ICT.” So along with building up the capability of its own channels from the IT side, Vodafone is also bringing in the expertise of the IT channels and trying to build their mobility and telephony strength. So that their basket of offering becomes larger. In addition to this, Vodafone has a very robust retail channel network and the high-performing retail partner are being encouraged and empowered to sell the enterprise solutions. As per Ajay, Vodafone’s inside sales engine is generating a lot of leads and the company is looking at how they can further improve the coverage by passing on the leads to these partners. Along with recruiting partners, Vodafone is also offering automation tool to manage the workforce most efficiently. Even using this tool, partner account managers at Vodafone can monitor the partners’ employees on field. So the company has created a partner operating system portal. “We have got so many partners and under them there are many resellers and their own people. So these partners can measure the productivity and efficiency of the resellers and their feet on street with the help of this partner operating system portal,” says Ajay. “This portal is centrally connected with our billing system and gives information on daily basis to the partners. This portal helps Vodafone to take care of the training requirement of the partners’ resellers and their feet
VODAFONE
on street leaving the partners to do only account management and pipeline management.” So the overall exercise brings the partners ease of doing business. Along with this Vodafone has created a partner resources portal which can help partners getting right knowledge about Vodafone solutions, case studies and market trends. Ajay added, “We also have created system access partner portal tool. Our portfolio is getting expanded from mobility to many fixed line products, m2m products for smart meters, smart cars, smart vending machines, etc. There are so many information available one cannot remember. Therefore, all the information are uploaded to the portal and we are giving access to our internal people and all our partners so that they will be access this portal from their smartphone and handle their customer queries more effectively.” On the other side, Vodafone is also changing its products positioning in the market. Unlike the
AJAY SHEGAL, SENIOR VP, SME BUSINESS, VODAFONE
“OUR OBJECTIVE IS HOW CAN WE MAKE OUR PORTFOLIO MORE RELEVANT TO CUSTOMERS’ NEEDS IN TERMS OF TIME AND UNIT.” earlier years now the products are taking vertical proposition positioning. It means Vodafone is seeing how its products are becoming relevant to each of the market verticals. For example, in the construction segment, Vodafone helps the owner of the company, who is sitting remotely, keep a tab
CHANNEL GUIDE
of what is happening on ground. He can monitor or see what is happening to the raw material lying under open sky or how many people have turned up in the site. So Vodafone takes care of remote monitoring and managing the sites. As per Ajay they have created proposition selling packages for the construction and manufacturing verticals but soon they will come up with similar strategy for logistics, hospitality, healthcare, professional services, etc. Now the benefit of the partners is that they have got ready to address market because Vodafone is able to help them identify the verticals and equip them with solutions so that they can go and meet the customers’ requirements. Vodafone has also created a strong cloud offering as far as connectivity, collaboration and productivity. They need not pay for these solutions upfront on Capex model as Vodafone will help them in pay per use model with its Vodafone CloudStore. At present Vodafone is offering SaaS but soon the company will offer other solutions including IaaS, PaaS, etc. Ajay added, “This platform is already launched and the customers are already using this and the company is in process of building more and more applications and creating relevance for the SME customers.” At presence Vodafone has three products as following: l Vodafone shield, the security system for mobile phones and laptops l Internet presence, which is a website hosting service for the SMEs l Office 365, which is offered as a service and the SMEs can choose any module they want if it is video chat, he can opt for it only or if he wants storage he only can go for it only. No need to buy the entire thing upfront. Ajay concludes, “Our objective is how can we make our portfolio more relevant to customers’ needs in terms of time and unit. He can choose a particular unit and for a particular period of time – whether it is for one month or one year does not matter. We are here to support him.”
FINALLY… Vodafone has also launched ‘Ready Business’ campaign. Under this campaign the company is helping the customers to meet current challenges head on and make them future ready to manage the growth what they are expecting. It is an eight minutes’ survey that is undertaken with the customers and there are certain tools that Vodafone uses during this survey to come up with suggestion as to how ready that the customers are from the ICT side and what needs to be done to make them future ready.
SME CHANNELS 33 JANUARY 2016
CHANNEL ROADMAP
VMWARE
VMWARE
PUSHES PARTNERS TO UNLEASH THEIR POTENTIAL Starting from virtualization to mobility, cloud, everywhere and every device computing, VMware is trying to position as a major building bloc provider and pushing the partner to adopt these technologies to ride the next wave of growth. BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com
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pportunity for the channel partners today is plenty if they want to exploit! The new technologies, which were dubbed to be growthbreaker have instead become the growth maker and the companies which were the channel darling have taken the back seat and the niche companies which were at the fringes have emerged as the channel favourites. One of the biggest fringe players VMware have become a strong channel player with positive influence on end-to-end computing. Once a server only virtualization player, VMware today provides solutions addressing end user computing, cloud computing, mobile computing and networking, etc. These technologies used to be the bread and cheese for the partners and continues to be so now also but only thing different now is that from monolithic on premise dedicated machines, these technologies are served out of virtual and cloud environment and partners have also started adapting to the changes and in turn their worries getting demystified and their opportunity of revenue also enhancing. VMware as a principal is also trying to enable these partners with capacity and capability to maximise their potential. “We ask our partners to move into their home accounts. If required take the support of the account managers deployed in each of the regions
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while talking to the customers in terms of their growth path. Some of our customers are not even touch based for last three years where the partners need to deep engage because they remember us as an only server virtualization company but today we have the entire stack of enterprise solutions,” said, Sundar Balasubramanian, Senior Director, General Business at VMware. “Our programs are fairly reach. We are looking at the complete installed base and going back to them communicating with them the SDDC solution. We are going with very intense engagement with the individual customers.” What the company did last year was that they brought down the partner number to only 30-35, who could go and change the market for us. That paid off. VMware enabled them with competency, capability and certification. VMware needs the partners to lead them to the accounts and take the conversation forward. As per Sundar, VMware is also making sea changes in our partner benefits, certification, opportunity registries, etc. and next year will be pretty exciting for all of us. Sundar added, “Our rebates and benefits are not linked with these partners rather with their certification. If they are enterprise partner they get different benefits, if they are premier partners their
benefits are different and so also in the case with the professional partners. That worked very well.” All the solutions, VMware is focusing include SDDC, UC, Cloud and Mobility are not consumer technologies. These are high-class enterprise technologies where the partners need continuous engagement with the customers. The company wants partners to look at used cases in the verticals and micro verticals. At the end of the day the vendor has to solve the business problems of the customers. For example, partner should know if they go to IT and IT enabled company what the pitch should they take. It will be prominently around VDI, UC followed by NSX with mobility because at the end of the day each vertical has a business problem to solve. If you do not get the business problem right, you land up in selling wrong products to the people. In the entertainment business it is all about experience. Similarly, for the retail company, it is about moving from off line to online. So the products should be around helping the company to move to online. He maintained, “We will solve the innovators. We will help the innovators to bring out their innovation. We will propose the solution and size it for them. And partners need to take the used cases and sell our solutions to the similar companies. It
VMWARE
CHANNEL ROADMAP
SUNDAR BALASUBRAMANIAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, GENERAL BUSINESS AT VMWARE
“IF THERE IS ENTERPRISE CLASS REQUIREMENT WITH FLEXIBILITY AND AGILITY, WE ARE THE BEST. INDIA IS A HUGE COUNTRY AND IT HAS EVERY ONE’S PLAY.” structured VCAN programme (VMware vCloud Air Network Program) available to you. We have a team working on VSPP (VMware Service Provider Partner) and VCAN programme, who basically looks after the cloud partners – how to get them on board onto cloud. Partners are experience enough to take their own decision. The ecosystem is changing. Some people want CAPEX and some people OPEX. For example, partners like SoftCell and Progression.” So from the coverage stand point, VMware has taken the top six cities where the partner ecosystem is very much on with enough of capability, capacity, addressability, etc. But the company is looking at the geo expansion in terms of how do they carry the message into next 10 cities. That is where the company is making very sharp investments. The company also in pursuit of various clusters in Coimbatore, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc., where partners are the rout to market and where they are investing in building capability, capacity and addressability of the partners to service the customers. is not about technology selling rather solving the business challenges faced by the customers.” Today’s technology are the concepts which solves the business problems. For example, NSX is a concept, cloud is a concept and these concepts solve business problems and the partners need to sell these concepts. So, VMware is encouraging their partners to look at the home customers, verticals and used cases. They need to take the used cases and propose the solution to their customers. VMware will help them to sell the solutions. VMware is spending around US$2 million in partner enablement.
From the customers’ point of view, they can make a choice with VMware whether he will keep his application on-prem or move it to hybrid environment or to public cloud. The experience will be seamless. In the case of the competition if your applications are on cloud and if the applications need to be transferred to on-prem, it will be difficult. “If there is enterprise class requirement with flexibility and agility, we are the best. India is a huge country and it has every one’s play,” he added. “If you want to go for CAPEX we have the offering, if you are going for OPEX we have a very
Conclusion… VMware has decreased its direct managed partners’ number from 80 odd to 30-35 in last five-six quarters. It is a very fast changing company. Five years back it was an only server virtualization company, but now VMware has very rugged products for network virtualization, storage virtualization, end-user computing, public cloud, private cloud, mobility, etc. Its entire SDDC story is a very fast changing story. And the company has been doing sharp investments in this during last few years.
SME CHANNELS 35 JANUARY 2016
OUTLOOK 2016
TECH PREDICTION 2016
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JASWINDER AHUJA, CORPORATE VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (INDIA) PVT. LTD.
015 has seen an unprecedented wave of consolidation, globally and in India. From a business perspective, the primary motivation is to drive long-term growth, for which the merged companies will need to invest in R&D to drive innovation. India has also seen mergers and acquisitions of electronics and semiconductor design services companies in 2015. This points to the rising relevance of such services in the semiconductor ecosystem. The mergers have created large groups with much more financial strength, market reach and broader offerings and will create new and larger opportunities for the design services companies based out of India. Globally, in addition to the Internet of Things (IOT), some trends that we are seeing and will continue to mature and flourish in 2016 and beyond are: • Increasingly sophisticated designs coming directly from system companies serving many end-applications including consumer electronics, enterprise cloud/data centers, IoT, and automotive. This is a big challenge for both hardware and software development. Traditionally software is written and tested only once the silicon is taped out. Now, thanks to shorter time
to market windows, optimization and testing of software needs to be done in parallel to hardware development, necessitating hardware/software co-verification. • System Design Enablement. This terms describes a focus on whole systems or end products including chips, packages, boards, embedded software, and mechanical components. A perfect example is a car, which is a “package” of independent systems - functional safety, security systems, ADAS, infotainment, and more. • Vertical markets. EDA has until now been “horizontal,” providing the same solution for all market segments. Going forward, markets like consumer, automotive, and industrial will have differing needs and will need optimized tools and IP. From the India perspective, we are still waiting for manufacturing and startup activity to really take off. As I have said, Indian electronics entrepreneurs now have a window of opportunity to develop products for the world. In addition, there is still no “killer app” for the IOT. These are all exciting opportunities for electronics system design and manufacturing (ESDM) startups. I hope that 2016 seesan uptick in the number of entrepreneurs who take advantage of the Government incentives in the ESDM space.
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surveillance cameras, smoke detectors, gas sensors, access control panels and loudspeakers into a common management console providing a ‘single pane of glass’ overview across entire buildings and sites.
s one of the early adopters of IoT with the launch of the security Industry’s first network camera in 1996, Axis Communications believes it represents a very real and practical step forward in how to connect disparate machines and widely dispersed data. IoT will allow network cameras to think independently and make smart decisions on their own, while connected systems will top the chart of emerging trends in 2016.
JOHAN PAULSSON, CTO, AXIS COMMUNICATIONS
36 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2016
IOT: FROM COOL FEATURES TO USEFUL SOLUTIONS: As security solutions move beyond their roots in cameras, the entire gamut of network cameras will expand. For example: network cameras can be used for Building Information Management (BIM), Business Intelligence (BI) in retail and even leaping into scientific research with real-time analysis of traffic patterns and crowd movements. The IoT will allow for combined systems integrating previously disparate devices such as video
MORE CAMERAS MEAN BIG DATA According to market researchers, video is now the fastest growing type of data in the world, and video generated by security and surveillance systems is no small reason. While this vast amount of video data is largely being used for security purposes, it is increasingly valuable as a source of business intelligence. However, there still remains a significant challenge to effectively manage and use the endless amounts of video data being generated, so-called big data. Hence, we expect to see more investment in tools and other resources that can effectively mine and derive actionable intelligence from the big data that security systems are producing. CUTTING THE CORDS
OUTLOOK 2016
We expect to see more use of wireless technology in security and video surveillance, particularly as an enhancement to business optimization and improvement of the customer experience. The never ending quest for more detail Security operators have an insatiable appetite for more clarity and detail in the images produced
GEOFF THOMAS, PRESIDENT, POLYCOM ASIA PACIFIC
TECHNOLOGY WILL MOVE TO THE CENTRE OF THE ROOM Throughout history, natural human collaboration and interaction in most social settings are conducted ‘in the round’ – conversations around dinner tables, team huddles before a game, brainstorms to solve problems and create new ideas. However, traditional video collaboration systems have participants seated side by side at a rectangular conference table, leading to a ‘tunnel vision’ style of interaction. The far-end and in-room experience is now changing; by putting cameras and displays at the centre of a workspace, smaller groups of people can draw together into a collaborative circle. New solutions are developed with this in mind, with human-centred design for use in open space environments as well as traditional meeting rooms. They will also incorporate features such as intelligent 360-degree video, automatic muting and noise blocking, and advanced camera technologies which frame the active speaker, ensuring natural human instincts are a key consideration for improving collaboration tools.
by their video surveillance systems. So continued improvement in megapixel technology is certainly in our future. ANALYTICS PROVIDES THE BRAIN FOR SMARTER SYSTEMS If IoT devices are the eyes and ears for increasingly
CLOUD-BASED APPS WILL CONVERGE FOR SIMPLER WORKFLOWS A recent research report showed that a typical enterprise uses over 1,100 different cloud-based apps for collaboration and file sharing. The range of apps is exploding and they are being created to help support how people get work done. New solutions which stitch together workflows that go through these apps –‘cloud on cloud’ solutions so to speak – are set to rise in the future. In the real-time collaboration space, opportunities are opening up to integrate audio, video and content within workflows in the cloud, making it faster and easier to deploy to multiple customers at once. This model would eliminate the need for software distribution and remote support to customers on an individual basis. Instead, upgrades and improvements can be managed from one central data centre as a faster and continuous process. Imagine a time when a customer can simply call up to sign up for a service that provides a full suite of collaboration and communication tools, that fully integrates with all of the other services, applications and workflows that they use already. Imagine if these services could be provisioned and integrated in minutes, whether using a shared public service or a private cloud instance; this is the speed and flexibility that customers are demanding. BIG DATA AND ANALYSIS WILL INFLUENCE COLLABORATION STRATEGIES How many organisations today have invested in equipment and technology that is gathering dust? Far too many, and this is an issue that impedes creating a culture of collaboration. In the not too distant future, we can expect real time analytics on the way people use (or don’t use) the tools available to them, at the click of a button. The data available will be way beyond simple metrics like conferencing minutes or room utilisation. In the world of collaboration, business leaders can analyse all activities related to how people interact: how they prefer to work, what applications and features they use, and what kind of issues were experienced and so on. Having this type of business insight would enable customers to optimise their operations and improve productivity. Deep usage of data and its analysis will also provide
interconnected systems, then analytics technology is the brain. We expect to see continued growing adoption of sophisticated video and audio analytics in the coming year, helping security systems evolve from passive monitoring to intelligent and adaptive recognition, situational awareness and analysis systems.
necessary insight to vendors when developing new solutions – perhaps to deprecate unutilised features or introduce new functionality. For example, let’s say a call sequence requires five different strokes to be completed. What if we find that people only get halfway through that workflow and abandon it? This is an indication that the sequence is too complicated and needs to change. These are the types of situations that would truly benefit from the availability of big data. END-USERS WILL EXPECT SIMPLICITY Today’s workers were raised on technology and require more out of the devices and technology they use than ever before. It’s no surprise then, that user expectations get higher with every new solution in the market. People look for the simplification of products and solutions in order to fully utilise them, and so, collaboration should be as natural as opening a favourite app on your smartphone. Not many people would read an instruction manual these days! Over time it is assumed that end-users will not require training to use technology as they expect it to work the way they want it to work. What would this look like? Some examples are that collaboration solutions will be built to be out of the box and set up within minutes, adding devices to an existing cloud subscription will be seamless, and more employees will have freedom to integrate enterprise applications with the technology or device they choose to work with. CONTENT WILL BECOME MORE PERVASIVE Facilitating how people manage, interact, edit, produce, work with content and all associated workflows and applications is an area that has become more complex because of the plethora of content solutions available. There is a need to address complexity and fragmentation and make it easier to manage content in a high fidelity way. Content is not just a screen representation – it is the most valuable asset arising from any collaboration as it is the output which knowledge workers produce. In coming years, we will see the emergence of solutions that will allow people in organisations to
SME CHANNELS 37 JANUARY 2016
OUTLOOK 2016
more easily manage their content files and related work flow tools, and many of these will be cloudbased applications. Envision a room where every wall and every surface becomes a virtual interactive workspace - content can be taken from anywhere (your personal devices, cloud storage, the physical world) and shown anywhere. Additionally, everything seen in a physical room is also seen by participants around the world, and all of the content is fully interactive allowing teams to simultaneously
TARUN KAURA, DIRECTOR - SOLUTIONS PRODUCT MANAGEMENT - APJ, SYMANTEC
OPPORTUNITIES FOR CYBERCRIMINALS TO COMPROMISE APPLE DEVICES WILL GROW Apple devices have experienced a surge in popularity in recent years. According to IDC, the company now accounts for 13.5 percent of global smartphone shipments and 7.5 percent of global PC shipments. This increase in usage has not gone unnoticed by attackers. A rising number of threat actors have begun developing specific malware designed to infect devices running Mac OS X or iOS. Apple users should not be complacent about security and change their perception that Apple devices are “free from malware”- this perception opens up opportunities for cybercriminals to take advantage of these users. They need to take precautions in order to prevent their devices from being compromised.
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work on content, save the files, and make it available to all team members to access at any time. COLLABORATION MATTERS IN THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE CIOs will remain concerned that any investment in technology will need to work today and in the future. If collaboration technology is to become adopted on a mass scale, it needs to be easy to deploy across multiple users, devices and meeting
THE TIPPING POINT FOR BIOMETRIC SECURITY IS APPROACHING The last two years have seen a significant rise in the use of biometrics. This is expected to grow significantly with major industry players implementing new capabilities both with new sensors in devices and with adoption of biometric authentication frameworks like FIDO and TouchID. This facilitates secure on device storage of biometric information (like fingerprints) as well as interoperability between apps and systems. What this means is that biometrics can finally answer the “what’s in it for me” question that consumers have been asking, while replacing passwords with strong traditional PKI authentication protected by the biometric sensor. The consumer gets better security with significantly increased convenience for device unlocking, purchasing and payments. This also is leading to enterprise adoption of biometrics that may start to see a reduction on the dependence on passwords. THE NEED FOR IMPROVED SECURITY ON IOT DEVICES WILL BECOME MORE PRESSING As consumers buy more smart watches, activity trackers, holographic headsets, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the need for improved security on these devices will become more pressing. RISK OF SERIOUS ATTACKS TO CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE WILL INCREASE We have already seen attacks on infrastructure and in 2016 we can expect this to continue to increase. Motivations for critical infrastructure attacks are both political and criminal, with nations and political organizations operating cyber-warfare campaigns, and criminals attacking for profit or ransom. The industrial IoT is becoming more connected due to requirements and demand for reporting and improved functionality through connectivity with additional services. These changes introduce bigger attack surfaces into the
environments. Further, tools need to be intuitive and easy to handle – and as mentioned before, user expectations in terms of quality and simplicity have to be satisfied. As millennials continue to stream into the workforce, organisations will focus on meshing together the young, educated talent across the globe. To bring them together effectively and drive outcomes through collaboration, an innovative, more connected environment – the workplace of the future – needs to be created now.
more traditionally hard to secure environments. THE BATTLE BETWEEN RANSOMWARE GANGS AND MALWARE DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS WILL HEAT-UP From early beginnings in Russian speaking counties, ransomware has evolved and spread into Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia. It is likely that some of the gangs responsible for the original ransomware are part of this expansion, but other established criminal gangs are also becoming involved. Clearly, the fraud is profitable for criminals and is likely to increase. THE NEED FOR ENCRYPTION ESCALATES Encrypt everywhere is quickly becoming the mantra of the technology industry. With so much communication and interaction between people and systems happening over insecure and vulnerable networks like the Internet, strong encryption for this data in transit has been well recognized for some time and it is generally implemented. CYBER ATTACKS AND DATA BREACHES WILL DRIVE THE NEED FOR CYBER INSURANCE When we look at the rapid adoption of cyber insurance, there are two key factors that attribute to this growth: new regulations which obligate companies to respond to information breaches; and the increase of cyber criminals using stolen information for payment fraud, identity theft, and other crimes. SECURITY GAMIFICATION AND SIMULATION WILL TACKLE THE SECURITY AWARENESS CHALLENGE Internet security relies on the human element as much as it does on technology. If people were more skillful, they could help reduce the risks they faced. This is as true of consumers avoiding scams as it is of government employees avoiding the social engineering in targeted attacks.
SME CHAT
ANOOPJARIAL, VP – PRODUCT MARKETING, D-LINK (INDIA) LTD.
ADOPTION OF VDSL TECHNOLOGY LIKELY TO WITNESS A SPIKE
Year on year we have new gadgets/ devices making in-roads that supersede the earlier generation of technology and brings with it more convenience & benefits. With internet being omnipresent and smart phones turning into a must have accessory, uninterrupted wireless connectivity is crucial.
What are your tech trend predictions for 2016 and why? There has been a paradigm shift in technology landscape with machine-to-machine communication becoming a reality. Internet of Things (IoT) is set to redefine our future, as it holds the potential to transform the way we live & work today.In 2015 we saw/ heard a lot of tech analyst & brands emphasize on IoT technology, and its impact on our day-to-day living. In 2016 we can certainly look forward to increased adoption of IoT, with more & more products/ gadgets being introduced. What is your expectation in terms of overall market growth? We live in a world where being connected all the time is a necessity. Internet along with mobility devices has brought about a major lifestyle transformation in today’s day & age. As a result, there is a surge in demand for connectivity devices at end-consumer level, presenting enor-
mous business opportunities for networking brands. New trends in wireless technology like 11AC, IoT based devices or lifestyle products like media streamer, baby monitoring device etc. are being widely appreciated by consumers. Also increased penetration of broadband connectivity in B & C class cities is also driving growth for internet connectivity equipment’s across the country. Further consumer/ home surveillance is another key business segment that holds huge potential. From an enterprise point of view, the role of networking remains indispensable, as networking continues to be the backbone of any IT Infrastructure. Investment in developing a robust & secure network infrastructure is still a top priority for most business verticals be it Banking, Hospitality, Education etc. In addition to this, government continues to be another key vertical & promoter of technology growth. In fact, the role of government in driving technology adoption is commendable. Some of the
“THE ROLE OF A RESELLER/ PARTNER IS NOT JUST RESTRICTED TO BOX PUSHING.”
recent big ticket announcements like Digital India, Smart city program are largely contributing to the growth of technology adoption in the country. What will be the key tech trends channel partners should look out for? We are in a business that is extremely dynamic in nature, and channel community plays a crucial role in dissemination of technological advancements. Hence the role of a reseller/ partner is not just restricted to box pushing. With the proliferation of new tech trends like IoT, Mobility, Wireless technology etc. it is imperative for partners/ resellers to keep oneself updated & thereby address the growing market effectively. Keeping oneself abreast with latest information on new technology trends, improving technical skill-sets and enhanced focus on customer engagement are some of the key factors that will help drive business.
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GUEST TALK
INDIA’S STARTUP AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS More than 800 new startups are launched a year in India, driving new levels of innovation in the world’s second most populated country . MARION RYAN, VP SME Asia Pacific and Japan, SAP BRIEF PROFILE Marion Ryan is the VP of SME APJ and has been working in IT & Telecommunications for more than 20 years across Asia, Europe and North America, with extensive focus on SMEs and channel partners. She has a track record of excellent leadership success, passion for sales excellence, team building and operational effectiveness from her previous roles in the IT, Telco, public sector and FSI sectors. She has held key sales and management positions at Telecom NZ (AAPT), Australian House of Representatives, Mortgage Express (a subsidiary of TSB Bank, London), and Solution 6. Marion has recently celebrated 8.5 years at SAP.
Due to the massive potential India has to offer, highprofile venture capitalists from all over the globe are rushing to cash in on this lucrative market. Last year, a total of US$5.3 billion was injected into the startup ecosystem owing to big names including Japan’s Softbank who invested US$627 million in ecommerce site Snapdeal, and US$210 million in taxi app Ola as part of a massive US$10 billion investment earmarked by the company for India’s booming ecommerce, telecom, and aviation industries. Sapphire Ventures, with more than US$1.4 billion under management as of July 2013 and 135 investments since its founding in 1996, is focused on helping today’s innovative expansion-stage technology companies in India and across the globe become global category-defining leaders by investing capital, resources and expertise that enables them to scale rapidly. Innovation will play a significant part in the way investments are handed out, encouraging startups to embrace the disruptive technology that has the potential to put them at the forefront of their respective industries.
The New Digital Economy The meteoric rise of entrepreneurship in India is due in part to the government’s commitment to enhancing the nation’s IT infrastructure. Digital India, for example, is an initiative launched by the Indian government to help increase Internet connectivity in the country. The results are impressive: as of June 2014, there were an estimated 243 million users in the country , effectively putting India ahead of US as the world’s second largest internet base. As ideas flow freely with heightened connectivity, profound changes begin to take place in the economy: disruption, in the form of cutting-edge
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technology, fresh ideas and reimagined business models, are helping to redefine India’s new digital economy. To stay ahead of the curve, embracing technology to drive competitive advantage is a must for startups in all geographies.
The Rise of Female Entrepreneurs Interestingly, India’s vibrant startup scene is producing a rise in the number of female entrepreneurs. In 2014, the divide between male and female founders shrunk by 6 percent, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor special report of Women’s Entrepreneurship. This is particularly true in India, which saw a 50 percent increase in women entrepreneurs compared to the previous year . There are efforts from the private and public sector to help provide opportunities for female entrepreneurs. In November 2015 Hyderabad hosted the inaugural Angel Summit in Hyderabad, which brought together more than 700 female participants to pitch ideas, share their stories of struggle and success, showcase their talents, and brainstorm new ideas.Based on the success of the conference, a second edition is now planned in February this year in New Delhi. If you’re a woman looking to enter India’s burgeoning startup scene, there is no better time than now. The new Digital Economy presents entrepreneurs with endless opportunities – whether it is an opportunity to start a business online, to develop a disruptive new business model, or an opportunity to better market your business by using digital marketing. The message is clear: as more and more Indians access the internet and as the digital economy gathers momentum, there’s never been a better time to enter the country’sthriving startup scene.
REVIEW
PRODUCT
LEEF IBRIDGE
One never had though that USB drives which are primarily being used for PCs can be used for the smart phones and if the option
DIGISOL 1.3 MEGA PIXEL CMOS DOME AHD CAMERA
is available for iOS i.e. devices like iPads and iPhones, it can be a cracker of a thing. I got hold of one of those iBridges from Leef which comes in a very simple packing. The instructions are clearly written making it no- brainer to make it work with iPhone or any iDevice. Once the packing opened, one can find
BY MANAS RANJAN
two components one is in C shape which is
info@smechannels.com
the iBridge flash drive and the other one is
COMBINING CUTTING-EDGE DIGISOL’s home security technology with intuitive digital media solutions; Smartlink Network Systems DG-CM5320PS – the 1.3MP Sony CMOS Plastic Dome AHD Camera, with 3.6mm Lens and IR 20m – combines cost-effectiveness of analogue cameras and powerful effectiveness of video surveillance in the sensor dome camera for both indoor and outdoor applications. The other winning feature of the camera is the exceptional LED technology of 24 PCS LED when other cameras of this range only offer 10-18 PCS LED. This feature makes it a best buy as along with its budget-friendly pricing it also promises superior technology. One can easily see video up to 20 meters without any distortion and its 4/45 – 1/45,000 Sec of Electronic Shutter Speed assures no-lag thereby giving the best picture quality. Additional performance features found in DGCM5320PS is automatic backlight compensation improves the picture without any hassles in extreme light condition and the automatic white balance leads capturing clearer and perfect picture.
FEATURES
its cover. The C-shaped iBridge has double
n 1/2.8″ Sony CMOS Sensor
headed interface one is USB connected
n 960P (1.3MP) Resolution
and the other one is Lighting plug. It means
n IR Cut Filter
iBridges can only be used in the devices
n 24PCS IR LED n 20m IR Distance n 3.6mm Fixed lens n BLC, AWB Support
above iphone 5 and iPad 2 because these devices come with lighting interface. So what is essential is that one has to download Leef iBridge software from the
PRICE
App Store. And once it is done one can
Rs. 3990/-
easily exchange documents to and from a
WARRANTY 2 Year
iDevice to any PC. In my case I tested it for my iPhone 6 and IPad with Windows PC. It took me some time to get the files including
CONTACT
videos, songs and photographs transfer
Smartlink Network Systems Ltd. Plot No. 5, Kurla-Bandra Complex Road, Santa Cruz (E) Mumbai – 4000098, India
from one device to another but it is worth
OVERALL RATING
waiting as my iPad or my iPhone becomes a complete PC as can run all the applications locally. The one I am using is of 16GB but its website shows the products are available from 16GB to256GB. Further this is ideal for the devices which have low storage capacity. The users can always attach the iBridge directly to the iPhones and iPads and take photographs or videos directed.
n Price: Rs. 4990, Warranty: 1 Year, Contact: Suma Sajeev, iBridge Product Team, suma@faxtelindia.com
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PRODUCT
NEW ARRIVALS
LENOVO
LENOVO THINKSERVER TS140 LENOVO THINKSERVER TS140 iis an entry-level Tower server and the first addition from the ThinkServer portfolio to the EBG server range for Lenovo in India. With ThinkServer, Lenovo aims to add to the robust portfolio across the entire server spectrum, right from entry-level to high-end servers. Staying true to Lenovo’s legendary Think engineering, both TS140 and RD450 will offer small businesses and entrepreneurs a perfect launch pad for their first server purchase. ThinkServer TS140 is engineered to enable 24x7 running time. Additionally, the advanced thermal design also reduces overall system noise to super-quiet levels of close to 26 decibels. The TS140 also supports enterprise grade hard disk drives that have 3x higher MTBFs and can handle up to 10 times the workload as compared to entry-level servers that come with consumer-grade hard drives. The off-the-shelf TS140 configuration from Lenovo is powered with built in RAID 5 capability that offers customers greater peace of mind by ensuring higher availability and reliability. n Price: Sub 50,000, Warranty: On Request, Contact: 1-8003000-9990 (Toll free)
HITACHI
NEW HITACHI ALLFLASH ARRAY HITACHI DATA SYSTEMS’ (HDS) new flash portfolio, the Hitachi Flash Storage (HFS) A series family of all-flash arrays packs a powerful punch with industry-leading total cost of ownership (TCO), unmatched capacity density, dependable performance and efficient power in a small footprint. The simplified appliance package is easy to deploy and includes data optimization technologies, making it ideal for quickly boosting performance in multiple environments for fast business insights and services delivery. System performance can be efficiently shared between multiple applications through quality of service (QoS) software. HFS A is the ideal platform for customers who want unprecedented performance and TCO in all-flash arrays. Available in three models, HFS A series includes a pair of highperformance controllers and up to 60 SSDs in a single 2U-high tray. With up to 384TB of effective capacity and 1 million IOPS, customers can easily and quickly consolidate multiple applications to reduce data center footprint while alleviating management headaches. The HFS A series is ideal for customers seeking optimized solutions for a particular set of use cases like virtual desktop, virtual server real-time analytics and database environments. n Price: On Request, Warranty: On Request, Contact: india. enquiries@hds.com
SEAGATE
SEAGATE 10TB HELIUM ENTERPRISE DRIVE SEAGATE 10TB ENTERPRISE CAPACITY HDD with lowest power consumption and weight provides maximum storage capacity for easy system integration by using the standard 3.5-inch CMR design. Incorporating seven platters and 14 heads, the drive seals in helium to create a turbulence-free, quiet environment, decreasing both friction and resistance on the platters and delivering the industry’s lowest power/ TB ratio and weight specifications for a 10TB HDD. Offering 25 percent more density to help businesses dramatically increase petabytes per rack, the drive delivers higher performance and reduced power and weight. The Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD improves performance by using advanced caching algorithms to help cloud data center managers manage the increasing volume of data more quickly. Featuring Seagate’s PowerChoice technology, the drive helps businesses manage and reduce the ongoing costs associated with power and cooling during idle time, while Seagate’s PowerBalance feature helps optimize the IOPS/Watt for even more efficiency. n Price: On Request, Warranty: On Request, Contact: http://support2.seagate.com/
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RNI NO: DEL ENG/ 2010/ 31962 Postal Reg. No.: DL-SW-1/4145/13-15
Date of Publication: 20 of Every Month Date of Posting: 22 & 23 of Every Month